Don't fear the Reaper
by FivebyFive89
Summary: Tara is brought back to life to aid in preventing hell on Earth. She travels to England with her 'savior' to do just that. Meanwhile the Scoobies are set on the same path by Slayer visions. A/U season 8-ish (ignores the comics etc) Involves Willow, Kennedy, Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Giles, Tara, and own character.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for choosing to read this fic, and I hope you carry on and enjoy it :P I've slaved away for about six months on this thing. It's completely written but will go up in (hopefully) weekly instalments in case edits need to be made. Aaaaaaaanyway, the concept for this came to me years ago and I started writing and posting but then I stopped and lost the fic. Early on this year I decided I wanted to have another go. And here we are!**

**My reapers are based loosely on Tite Kubo's Shinigami from Bleach (anime/manga) and the rest is Buffy, save for the odd reference to other shows/books/video games I throw in.**

**So, here it is!**

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><p>Tara Maclay was falling. Falling, falling, falling through darkness and cold but there was no wind and there was nothing to catch hold of to slow this descent through oblivion…. Her heart thudded in her chest, crashing against her ribs in a panic. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she was completely disorientated, tumbling this way and that, arms wind milling uselessly.<p>

She became aware suddenly of hard ground beneath her shoulders. Not an impact. She was no longer falling. It was simply not there, and then it was, as though she were merely lying there and had been always. A cold wetness was dropping onto her face, a spattering of water like rain. She was blind. Her eyes were closed, the lids too heavy to lift. Her body was so heavy, as though it hadn't been used in much too long. But that wasn't right. She had been standing in front of the bedroom window, talking to Willow just moments ago…Right?

There was a soft murmuring somewhere nearby, like someone was speaking slow and steady but she couldn't make out the words. They were oddly muffled to her. She took in a great lungful of air, her chest aching from the effort and suddenly she was gasping for breath, feeling as though she had been underwater holding her breath, drowning maybe, and had just broken the water's surface. She choked, forcing her chest to rise and fall, to let the oxygen flood her body, and finally dragged her eyes open. The world above was blurry. Grey and blurry and wet and cold. Slowly it came into focus, the image sharpened. Her ears picked up the sound of rain pattering around her, wind gusting. Where was she? Why was she outside…?

"Ah, you're alive." The voice was female and English. Not someone she recognised. And what an odd thing to say, of course she was alive! Tara turned her head towards the voice and squinted to focus on the person beside her. A slight figure sat cross legged on the grass, definitely not someone she recognized. Small and unassuming with grey eyes, fair skin, and dark hair that brushed her jawline, tousled and soaked from the rain and the wind. An equally drenched hood was pulled up to protect her from the rain. Water dripped from the black cotton into her eyes, causing her to blink. She must have been there for some time. Her clothes were all soaked through.

"Wha-…?" Her voice was hoarse from disuse, her mouth dry. She struggled to push herself upright, but before she had done so the young stranger placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. The ground beneath her felt wet and muddy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Tara, you're only wearing a blanket." She said awkwardly. Tara sharply raised her head enough to look down at herself (her spine creaked and popped, her muscles screamed from neglect) and was alarmed to find the woman spoke the truth. Her heart raced, and she began to tremble, going into full panic mode. What the Hell was going on?! The last thing she remembered was standing in front of Willow and then…nothing. Why did she feel as though she had been asleep for years? She felt no strength in her muscles. The woman leaned over her again, stormy eyes clearly concerned, and pulled the blanket tighter around Tara. "You're okay. Everything…will be all right." She sounded hesitant, unwilling to commit to the potential lie, no matter how comforting it would be.

"W-what's going on…?" Tara whimpered. The stranger paused, grey eyes on Tara's. Something awful had clearly happened, and Tara was filled with a deep sense of foreboding. She shivered beneath the sodden blanket.

"We have a lot to talk about."


	2. Chapter 1

_ "My name is Cat and this is going to sound strange. I'm…Well…we have many names but I suppose you could call me a reaper. Of souls. I had a vision about you, Tara. Well, us really. That if I could bring you back from death then together we could prevent the end of the world, Hell on Earth. Yes, you died. You were shot and you died and months later I have brought you back to life. You are reborn and you will do great things, Tara Maclay. You might not have realized it but you were pretty strong before. Crossing from life into death into life will…ramp up your powers. Eventually, I think. Maybe you feel different now? I don't know. The visions I get are so vague, it's infuriating. I'm not a true seer or prophet or whatever you call them. My sight comes from reaper magic. It's a lot to take in, I know, but please help me. If you do I'll help you track down your friends. They're not here now, but I know I can help. It's what I do."_

Sunnydale was gone. A great yawning crater was all that remained of that town. Her home, gone. Willow was gone. Left the area. Maybe even left America altogether. All of her friends, everything. Everyone. Gone. It were as though someone had come along and just erased her life. All she had created and fought so hard for. She supposed it was a bit like how Cat must have felt when she woke up as a reaper. Cold and alone, buck naked (and no convenient blanket to save her modesty) and with no clue of who she was or where she was until a fellow reaper came along and took her under his wing. He trained her up, a bit like a temporary Watcher, then shoved Cat back out into the crazy world once again and she was left to fend for herself and the myriad of lost souls she encountered. The reaper had briefly told her story but Tara got the feeling it was a no go subject and stopped asking questions pretty quickly. That was after Tara had burst into uncontrollable tears which was clearly something Cat had been unprepared for but had expected. The Reaper had stood around looking sympathetic but uncomfortable for the duration, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. After letting it all out Tara was straight down to business. Where were they going? What were they doing? Could Cat really help her track down her friends? The reaper had answered simply: England, don't know, yes. Great. Next thing Tara knew they were speeding off to the nearest airport, catching a plane to the UK.

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><p><em>She heard several loud bangs, like firecrackers going off in the garden outside, followed instantly by the sound of breaking glass from behind her. Then a punch to her shoulder. Red sprayed over Willow, who stood in front of her. Tara frowned, feeling strange. What had just happened…?<em>

_ "Your shirt…" Even as she said it, Tara crumpled to floor_ and gasped loudly, eyes snapping open to dim fluorescents and the soft rumbling of plane engines. The small window beside her was dark as the plane flew through the night, and the cabin was quiet. Soft lights illuminated from overhead. Most people were sleeping, but some had the lights on above their seats to read. There was a ping from the speaker in the panel above her.

"This is your captain speaking…" Right. Plane. England. London. Tara screwed her eyes shut tight. She had been shot. Shot! And died! And now she was sat on a plane with some strange woman in the chair beside her who-

Cat inhaled sharply, drawing Tara's attention to her. The reaper was sat in the middle chair with Tara in the seat beside the window. Early twenties, crazy dark brown hair that seemed purposefully styled in the 'I just rolled out of bed' look, torn jeans, scuffed black Doc Martin's and a biker jacket, Cat looked like some rebellious rocker chick who laughed in the face of danger. She was, however, currently sat rigid in her chair, seatbelt firmly fastened, grey eyes staring straight ahead and jaw clenched so tight the muscles bulged and Tara couldn't help but wonder if her teeth were about to break under the strain.

"Um…Cat…?" She murmured, looking worried.

"Mmmhmmm…?" Even her voice sounded strained. Tara leaned over and placed a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. She could feel muscles beneath the leather of her jacket locked together and as unyielding as iron. It made her next question feel a little redundant.

"Are you…scared of, um, flying?"

"Nope." The plane bucked as they hit a patch of turbulence and Cat grabbed the armrests. Tara was startled to see the force of the young woman's slender fingers started to crack the plastic beneath them.

"Careful." She hissed, glancing around to make sure no one had noticed. Cat looked at her sideways.

"I've been a reaper for years and I never got on a plane and now this is a great time to discover I was scared of flying!"

Tara looked at her, blue eyes just as nervous.

"I just dreamed about my d-death."

"Oh God…." Cat moaned and it occurred to Tara that talking to someone afraid of flying about death was probably not the best idea, even if they were a reaper. "You okay?"

"I-I think so…" Tara paused. Swallowed. Shook her head. "No. N-not really…"

"Okay. Well, I think we'll be landing in forty." Cat replied. "So. Just think happy thoughts while I try not to have a panic attack." Tara nodded and settled quietly back into her seat, head down, worrying at a quick in the corner of her left thumb nail. "You know, I was wondering why I felt so nervous booking tickets." Tara glanced over at Cat as she spoke up again.

"I…can't imagine what it must be like…" She murmured. "Waking up and not knowing who you are…I'm glad it didn't happen for me."

"I brought you back." Cat said quietly. They were surrounded by passengers that could easily overhear them, she didn't want to raise her voice too much. "I brought you back as you were. Me? I died and was reborn as something else. This is me but with dormant…Reaper magic awakened..."

"Do you know how you, um…died?" Tara asked softly. Cat shook her head.

"I tried to find myself once, looked in papers and stuff, but I guess I just went missing somewhere and it wasn't widely reported. Or something." Tara looked away, saddened by this. If she had woken up and forgotten her life, forgotten Willow even, the emptiness inside would have killed her all over again.

"What's Cat short for?" She asked curiously. Cat gave her an odd look. "Catherine, Caitlin…?"

"Cat." The reaper replied awkwardly, looking away. "I woke up and didn't know my name and realized I like cats and they like me." Tara's eyes widened. She didn't know what to say to that. It was like the worst kind of amnesia, only the blanks would most likely never be filled.

"Oh…" She said eventually and they settled into an uneasy silence. At least Cat's first moment of self discovery hadn't been the love for muffins. That could have been awkward: Muffin the soul reaper?

Ten minutes later the plane began its descent and Tara offered the reaper her hand to hold for comfort. And nearly had every bone broken for her troubles. Apparently reapers were very strong.

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><p>They stood silently side by side in baggage claim watching the carousel slowly trundle round carrying the suitcases for their flight, waiting for Cat's bag to make its way round. Just Cat's because Tara didn't actually own anything any more. Even the clothes she currently wore had been bought for her by Cat.<p>

"Feeling all right?" Cat asked suddenly. Tara looked at her sideways, surprised by the question. The reaper's gaze was on the conveyor belt, but Tara knew she was looking without seeing, staring at the luggage slowly making its way round.

"Um. I guess…" She murmured, glancing down at her feet. "A bit overwhelmed." She had been dead not even forty eight hours ago.

"You'll adjust." Cat said with a small nod. Her grey eyes locked onto a familiar suitcase, small and black with two wheels and an extendable handle. A tiny thing that contained the sum of their two lives currently. All that it held were Cat's clothes, some things she had bought for Tara, a handful of personal belongings, and a couple of books. "I did. Just focus on what's got to be done. I'll help you find…" She trailed off awkwardly.

"Willow." Tara supplied.

"Yeah. Willow." Cat looked a little sheepish at having forgotten the name, and shot her new companion an apologetic look. Tara gave a small but encouraging sloped smile. "Everything will work out. I promise." She turned away suddenly and snatched up her suitcase before it could pass them by, set it down on the dirty grey floor tiles and extended the handle. "Ready?" Tara nodded. "Let's go." Cat set off for the exit. "I booked us a room at some hotel for the night before we head off again. Figured you'd be tired 'cause you mortals always get tired from travelling, right?" Tara gave her an odd look. 'You mortals'…?

"It was a long flight…" She agreed warily. Not for the first time she wondered what on Earth she had (inadvertently) gotten herself into.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, another upload because I had a rubbish week and it feels like a valid excuse ;) I chose to set this in England because I am English! And so I can write a more believable UK than US as I have never been to America :P **

**This town doesn't exist and I've been pretty vague with it, but I guess it's sort of based on my home town (especially with mentions of Roman stuff :P)**

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><p>Rain lashed the windows of <em>The Horn Inn<em>, running down the glass in sheets and distorting the view of the street outside that glowed orange from the street lights. A hard wind set the sign hanging from the wall outside swinging wildly above the doorway, screeching on its rusted hinges. It depicted a horse and rider with antlers on his head, on painted wooden planks set within a black iron frame.

Inside, the pub was comfortable and warm, illuminated by soft ceiling lamps and filled with quiet chatter from the odd few groups of people scattered at tables in the bar, the chink of glassware, the smell of beer, and hot home-cooked food.

Xander turned away from the miserable scene that was the outside world and sat back facing his friends across their worn table, fingering the label on his beer bottle that peeled away from the glass as the condensation soaked into the paper and loosened the adhesive. The wind drove rain into the window at his back with a sudden loud pattering of water striking the glass, then relented almost immediatley.

"English weather sucks." He grumbled.

"Blame Buffy and Kennedy!" Dawn piped up beside him with a mischievous grin. "It's their stupid dreams that brought us here!" She then pouted over at her sister to demonstrate her displeasure at this. Buffy arched one eyebrow in response.

"Yup, that's me, Prophecy Gal bringing you the worst holiday ever. My bad."

"It's not always like this." Giles said, almost defensively, nursing a half empty pint of ale.

"Yeah, I'm sure the rest of the time it only rains a little bit!" Kennedy teased, her voice fake enthusiastic. Willow nudged her in the ribs to get her to behave.

"England has nice weather too." The red haired Wiccan spoke up. Giles gave her an appreciative look and she smiled in response.

"Thank you, Willow." He said. "Anyway, we're not here to enjoy ourselves. We have work to do." He reminded the group.

"Slayery type work." Buffy added helpfully.

"Indeed." Giles replied. "And it would be best to get on top of it right away. We don't know how fast we have to act. God only knows what evil lurks within the darkness, waiting to open the mouth of Hell." Buffy and Kennedy sighed in unison.

"No rest for the wicked…" Buffy muttered.

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><p>After a day of travelling on public transport Tara was relieved when they finally reached their destination, a small short stay hotel on the edge of town, about twenty minutes' walk from the nearest shop. Their bus came to a halt at its stop across the road from the building, headlights illuminating a long road that disappeared into the tree-lined horizon. Rain danced through the bright beams.<p>

Cat retrieved their suitcase from the seat across the aisle from her and they made their way through the near empty bus, out into the night.

"Well." She said, as the bus pulled off and left them in near darkness and driving rain. Beside the bus shelter a street light bathed them in a cone of orange, electricity humming. She pulled the hood out from beneath her leather biker jacket, and tugged it over her head for some protection against the rain, and stuffed one hand into a hoodie pocket. Tara had no such shield against the elements and so ducked her head, trying to shrink into the jacket she had bought. "I guess this is home for a little while."

The hotel was a single story white-painted building that spread around three sides of a large car park. Only a couple of cars occupied spaces. Most of the windows spanning either side of the reception were dark, showing unoccupied rooms. A two lane road ran in front of the building linking the town with the rest of the world, and beyond that lay fields and farmlands. In the distance stood the shadowy silhouette of some ruined church-like building, probably a local tourist hot spot, and telephone pylons stretching horizon to horizon. Beyond that lay inky darkness.

"Guess so…" Tara murmured in agreement as they started across the road. Loose gravel crunched underfoot as they crossed the car park. Cat's suitcase bounced over cracks and small potholes as she dragged it along behind herself. Reaching the entrance to the reception Cat pushed open one of the heavy metal and glass doors with little effort and kept it open with her palm flat to the glass for Tara to enter first. The Wiccan rushed inside, eager to get out of the cold wet night. Cat followed her in and parked the suitcase beside Tara, who stood by the doors with her arms folded across her chest for warmth, leaving the checking in up to the reaper.

"I'll be two secs." Cat told her. She lowered her soaked hood and moved away to the wooden desk across the room to speak with the too-cheerful middle-aged woman sat behind it.

It was warm inside, and brightly lit by long fluorescent strip lights in the ceiling and a couple of softly glowing standing lamps in two corners. Tourist posters adorned every wall, with a rack of leaflets opposite the desk and the odd potted plant on the few available surfaces. There were a couple of old but comfy looking squishy brown leather chairs around the room backed against walls for those that had to wait to be seen by a member of staff. Tara contemplated sitting but swiftly reconsidered after realizing just how soaked the rain had made her. Even her underwear was damp… And her shoes squelched inside when she walked. She shifted uncomfortably, wishing she had decided against jeans.

"Okay, well, cheers." Cat said to the receptionist, pushing off from the desk holding a key with a small bright green acrylic tab attached. Slotted inside on a small piece of paper was their room number written in blue biro. She turned to Tara with a small smile. "You ready?" Tara nodded and reached for the suitcase handle to wheel it out. Cat took it before she could do so while one-handedly tugging her hood back up, and shoulder barged the door open. "This way." The reaper said, waiting for Tara to follow her outside, then skirting the edge of the building close to the walls in an attempt to keep out of the worst of the wet weather. Their room was of course as far away as possible, almost right at the end of the building and so by the time Cat managed to open the door and they stumbled into their dark room they both looked like they had been swimming in their clothes. Cat sighed and crossed the room as Tara closed the door behind them. She palmed the main light switch revealing a relatively small room with two single beds, a wardrobe, set of drawers with an ancient TV angled towards both beds, and a writing desk with a kettle set on top, two nightstands and at the far side a closed door presumably leading into a bathroom. "Not bad." The reaper commented. Though the main light was ridiculously dim.

"Yeah…" Tara agreed, eyeing up the kettle. A hot drink would be brilliant right about now… A loud _whump_ from across the room drew her aqua eyes back to Cat, who had pulled off her jacket and hoodie and chucked them onto the floor. She lay the suitcase down and unzipped it and started patting the contents. Tara's brow creased slightly at the strange behaviour.

"It's all dry!" Cat cried gleefully, then launched a towel and some dry clothes at Tara who only just managed to catch it all before being hit in the face. Cat stood up with her own dry clothes and towel in one hand, crossed the room and inspected the kettle. "I'm'a get changed. Tea?" She lifted the kettle and tipped it slightly in Tara's direction in offering.

"Please." Tara offered a lop-sided smile. Cat nodded and disappeared into the bathroom to fill the kettle from the taps at the sink and get changed into dry clothes. She emerged minutes later towel-drying her hair with one hand, the kettle in her free hand, now wearing grey trackies and a black vest top.

"Brilliant welcome to England, huh?" She grinned across the room at Tara, who had picked up Cat's jacket and hoodie and hung them up to dry along with her own clothes on the single radiator in the room, and the wardrobe doors. She now sat cross legged on the bed nearest the door, wearing pyjamas and a thick grey hoodie. Her hands were stuffed into the pocket at her stomach. She offered Cat another crooked smile as the reaper flicked the switch on the kettle and set up the two white china mugs in front of it.

"It rains in America too, you know?" She said playfully. Cat grunted in response, investigating the sachets of sugar and sweetners and packets of various teabags in the little dish next to the kettle as the water boiled. The towel she had been using to dry her hair was now draped over one shoulder, and her dark locks were stuck up every which way as though she had jammed a finger in the mains.

"So, listen." Cat said suddenly. There was a serious edge to her voice that made the smile fade from Tara's lips.

"I'm listening." She mumbled. Cat kept her back to Tara, fiddling with the packets holding teabags as the kettle boiled and blew small clouds of steam in front of the reaper, hot and damp. She was quiet for a little while, gathering her thoughts, her words, not sure where to start.

"When you died," she began, and Tara winced slightly at the reminder, "Willow went…Well. Willow went batshit crazy. Tried to bring you back, didn't work, went on a murderous rampage through Sunnydale and eventually tried to destroy the world. She went darkside. So dark." Still Cat wouldn't turn around. The kettle finished boiling but she ignored it. Tara was staring into the back of the reaper's head in open mouthed shock. Willow? Murdering? _Rampaging_? Destroying the _world_?!

"Sh-she didn't really murder anyone, did she?" Tara asked quietly. Cat sighed, finally picking up the kettle and pouring water into their waiting mugs.

"Yeah. Yeah she did. But she's okay now. From what I know." The teaspoon clinked softly against china as she stirred milk into their tea from tiny little containers.

"From what y-you know?" Tara repeated quietly. Willow went on a murdering rampage and tried to destroy the world?

"Yeah, she helped Buffy close the Hellmouth, activated the potential in all potential slayers. You saw the aftermath of that little adventure!" Cat came over with two steaming mugs in her hands, gave one to Tara, then sat on the edge of the bed that would be hers.

"I did." Willow went darkside? What, _evil_?! Willow wasn't _evil_. She was far from it!

"The Powers That Be wanted something to tip Willow over the edge, to boost her powers. Your death was required to save the world, to defeat the First Evil. Now your life is needed to stop Hell on Earth."

"The P-Powers That Be?" Tara questioned, feeling somewhat shell shocked right about now. Cat nodded, sensing Tara's brain was filling to capacity.

"Yeah. Never mind, it's not important. Just know that they eventually send ridiculously cryptic visions my way to stop terrible things happening while I shepherd spirits into the afterlife and stuff. Right now we have a Hellmouth to close and after that I know they'll help us find Willow and your friends." Tara smiled faintly and looked down at her tea, still steaming in its mug. Would Willow even be the same when or if they were eventually reunited?

"I guess I missed a lot while I was gone…" She shifted her mug from one knee to the other as it began to burn through the thin cotton of her trousers. Strange that it felt she hadn't been gone at all.

"Enough about that." Cat said, sipping at her tea. "Tell me about your Willow." Tara raised bright blue eyes to meet stormy grey.

"My Willow?" She asked, cracking a goofy lop-sided grin and blushing faintly. Cat nodded, looking amused at this reaction. Tara glanced back down at her tea, a curtain of hair falling across her face and hiding her from view. "Oh, well…She's beautiful. She has the most gorgeous red hair and green eyes you could lose yourself in-"

"_You_ could lose yourself in." Cat teased. Tara glanced over and gave a shy giggle, looking away again.

"Yeah, me." She admitted. "She's funny and sweet. She's so special. She helped me so much, taught me so much. I love her. She makes me complete. And the best thing about it all?" Tara looked up at Cat and smiled brightly. "She was-is-…was?"

"Is." Cat supplied. Tara grinned at her.

"She's all mine."

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><p>"Yours?"<p>

"All mine." Kennedy pushed aside Willow's book, dark eyes mischievous as she curled her fingers into fiery red hair. Willow grinned as she put her book on their bedside table, reading successfully interrupted.

"So you won't share me?" She asked, rolling onto her side to face her girlfriend (who had invaded Willow's side of the bed despite there being plenty of room for them both).

"Nope."

"Not even with our friends?" Willow pouted playfully. "That's mean…"

"What can I say?" Kennedy replied with a smirk. "I'm a bad girl." So saying, she pressed her lips to Willow's in a passionate kiss.


	4. Chapter 3

**Woo, Birthday update before work! Gotta say, my bro got me the best card-Spider-man! :D I'm 25 ;) But oh well, you're only as old as you feel, amirite?**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em>Her feet pounded against soft earth, skidding and sliding in patches of sludge-like mud. The sharp coppery tang in the air kept her from looking down at the ground for fear of what she might see. Fear her apprehension may be proved correct. Mud-it had to be mud-splattered her legs, soaked into her shoes, as she ran Hell for leather through a landscape choked by fog. Sound was muffled and distorted by heavy white tendrils of dampness. She didn't know where she was, didn't know when the chasing had started, only that she couldn't stop. Because that Thing was behind her and it would never stop, pursuing her relentlessly, and when it caught up…Well. She didn't want to think about that, couldn't think about that. Because that way lay mind numbing fear, the kind that hampered fleeing for your life. And then she heard it. The wet smack of knife-like claws tearing chunks of mud from the earth as the Thing charged after her, gaining ground at a terrifying rate. It was done playing now, racing in for the kill, ready to<em>-

Cat jerked wide awake in an instant, all senses alert, searching for a threat that wasn't there. Dreaming. It was just a-

Fabric rustled from across the room and she shot into the air, twisting to land in a crouch atop her bed, ready to fight...Tara? The Wiccan shifted again in her sleep, snuggling down amongst the covers. Right. Of course. Cat let out the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding and sank back onto her butt, staring across the room at her companion. Just a dream.

She climbed off of her bed and padded on bare feet across soft carpet to the bathroom, feeling shaken. Just a dream she had a lot. She suspected it was a side effect of dying and being reborn as a reaper, rescuing ghosts and fighting ghost-eating demons. But the Powers That Be had given her a job and she had to do it. She wasn't fighting the good fight or anything, she was cleaning up after the mystical chaos that was life or the mess created by the Powers That Be or whatever. Guiding spirits on, protecting them against the horrors that would feed off their energy. A glorified cleaner. Well, sometimes that was how she felt about it, anyway.

She closed the bathroom door behind her and turned on the cold tap at the sink, cupped her hands beneath the steady stream of water, then splashed her face with what felt like ice. A couple of handfuls had her feeling a little less tense and she shut off the water, then stood leaning over the sink, hands gripping white porcelain as she stared into the mirror before her. Despite the gloom her keen eyes were able to make out the reflection staring back at her, water droplets rolling down pale skin to gather beneath her chin, dripping near silently into the sink. Dark brown hair stuck in places to her wet face. Hair cut and styled to look messy, and she liked it that way. Her eyes were grey and blue like ice. There was a small scar about an inch long that formed a little ridge heading diagonally across her left cheek. She had no idea how she had acquired that… In her right eyebrow a silver bar glinted, each ear lobe had two studs. Why? What made her human self decide to do that? Cat scowled at herself and pushed off from the sink, sweeping out into the main room. She pulled off her vest top and used it to dry her face, chucked it onto her bed and wriggled out of her grey trackies. Changed into jeans and a T-shirt. She was too agitated to sleep. Maybe the night air could soothe the busy thoughts charging through her mind. She could go out, see if there were any reaper duties that needed completing, and be back well before Tara even knew she had gone. There was still an hour or so before sunrise. She pulled on her hoodie (still cold and damp from the rain, but wearable), tugged up the hood and stepped outside.

The world was silent and wet. The rain had eased off during the night, leaving behind greasy puddles, and an earthy smell in the air. Cat closed the door softly behind her, pocketed the keys and set off towards town, holding out a hand to summon her trusty sword, a reaper's most useful tool. Doing so unveiled her presence to all that went bump in the night, but right now she didn't care. It shimmered into existence beneath her palm encased in a black lacquered wooden sheath and she closed her fingers around the familiar hardness without breaking pace, and she strode into the night holding the katana at her side.

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><p>Kennedy was snoring.<p>

Either Giles had opted to ignore her or he truly hadn't noticed just yet. Either way, Willow was loathe to wake her lover, who had only returned from her night of patrolling a couple of hours ago and had barely managed to catch any sleep before being dragged out of bed for breakfast. A full English breakfast followed by a nice healthy research session. They were all currently crammed into Giles' room out of any potential prying eyes in the bar downstairs, rifling through local newspapers and the few books Giles had brought along with him, searching for signs of mysterious deaths or disappearances and clues as to the whereabouts of the Hellmouth allegedly in the area. Kennedy had barely lasted five minutes before her head dropped onto Willow's shoulder and out came the snores. Buffy wasn't fairing much better but that appeared mainly due to boredom as she propped her chin in one palm and simply stared blankly at the newspaper in front of her.

"I have mention of a mysterious disappearance." Dawn announced suddenly. "But I don't know if that's mysterious mysterious or I-just-turned-into-a-Vampire mysterious or even ritual sacrifice mysterious." She looked up at the group and smiled sheepishly. "But it's something to look into, right?"

"Probably." Buffy agreed, coming out of her staring contest with her own newspaper. "It's not like we have anything else to go on right now…"

"Well…" Dawn said slowly, clearly forming some sort of bright idea. "What if me and Xander check out the local library or an internet café? These papers will only any show recent disappearances and murders, maybe an internet search will bring something useful up?" She looked around the group hopefully. "You guys can carry on with the books and stuff and we can meet up over dinner and tell each other what we found before Buffy and Kennedy go out on patrol." She looked to Giles as he mulled this over.

"An excellent idea." He said after a short pause, with a soft smile. "I'm sure someone downstairs will tell you where to go." Willow sighed wistfully.

"I need to buy a new laptop…" In the chaos that had followed the destruction of Sunnydale she had yet to replace her most beloved of belongings after it was sucked into the Hellmouth along with the rest of the town.

"Can we take the car?" Dawn asked Giles sweetly. Giles had rented a people carrier to shepherd them from the airport to their accommodation and vice versa, and in case their activities required them to move further afield.

"You can." He replied, giving the littlest Summers a suspicious look. "But Xander is driving." Dawn pouted ever so slightly, but acquiesced with a nod of the head.

"I'll go get my bag and stuff…" The brunette said and dashed out of the room. Xander reached over to Giles for the car keys and then left the room to wait for Dawn in the hallway.

"And no playing Solitaire!" Giles called after the rapidly retreating due. "We'd best crack on." He addressed the rest of the group, pacing beside his bed with a small book open in his hand about mystical convergences in England. His eyes dropped back to the pages and he resumed reading. "Kennedy could be a great help." He added pointedly. Willow's green eyes snapped up to the Englishman, and she hurriedly shook her girlfriend awake.

Outside the pub Dawn and Xander were sat in the rental car, Xander familiarising himself with the interior before they set off, having acquired directions to the local library in search of computers and internet.

"Is it weird driving with one eye?" Dawn asked suddenly. "I think it would be weird." She placed a hand over one eye curiously, watching the road as her friend pulled out of Giles' parking space and drove out of the car park, onto the road.

"Gee, thanks, Dawnie. Way to make a man feel good about himself." Xander said playfully. "No, it's not weird. I'm used to being a pirate now." Dawn nodded and settled back into her seat as he looked over with a grin.

"Xander-Xander-Xander, you're driving on the wrong side of the road!" She squeaked abruptly, as an oncoming white van blared its horn and flashed its headlights. Xander gave a decidedly unmanly yelp and quickly swerved from the right hand lane into the left, pointedly ignoring White Van Man's rude hand gestures as he shot passed them.

"Let us not speak of this to Buffy or Giles." Xander said, glancing at Dawn. She swallowed and gave a vigorous nod.

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>As the sun began its downward arc, dipping below the horizon and darkening the town, Buffy and Kennedy were preparing once more to go on patrol. That day's research stint had turned up nothing useful other than the usual handful of suspected Vampire attacks. No news on the Hellmouth or anything that could be considered ritualistic or anything suggesting the end was nigh.<p>

Just as the slayers were leaving their rooms, Cat and Tara were exiting the nearest convenience store with bags filled with Pot Noodles, boxes of cereal and various snacks-essential supplies for a potentially long stay.

"It's not nutritious but, hey." Cat shrugged as they began the long walk back. The sky burned orange behind them, fire smudging into pale pink and a deepening blue up above as the first few stars became visible between wisps of white clouds that caught the suns dying rays on their undersides. It had grown dark enough for the streetlights to be glowing, and deep shadows were already gathering in the streets.

"Well…The cereal has berries in…" Tara commented fairly. Cat snorted at that.

"Yeah, freeze dried within an inch of their lives." She replied. "Actually, I bet it's just polystyrene dyed red and soaked in raspberry flavouring."

"That's optimistic." Tara flashed her lop-sided grin, blue eyes playful.

"That's me, ever the…optimist…" Cat's voice trailed off and she cocked her head, fast stride slowing almost to a halt. Tara looked at her nervously.

"What is it?" She asked softly. Cat stopped and turned to face the opposite direction, icy blues searching the street.

"We need to go." She said suddenly, turning back and heading down the road at a much faster pace. She handed her shopping bag to Tara, who grabbed it before finding she now almost needed to jog to keep up with the reaper. "I can sense…demons." Cat's brow furrowed, seemingly perplexed by what she felt out there.

"Demons?" Tara asked, feeling her heart begin to race. Cat's left hand opened and Tara blinked as a Japanese long sword shimmered into existence beneath her fingers. She gripped the wooden sheath and continued with the march away from alleged demons. "W-what-?"

"Just hurry." Cat interrupted the question, holding the weapon at her side, curved edge up. She pushed her thumb against the square guard, loosening the blade in its sheaf, clearly ready for action.

"Y-you just…um…Pulled a sword out of thin air." Tara informed the reaper. Cat glanced sideways at her.

"Yes." She replied. "It's…I use it to kill demons, save souls, open dimensions…"

"…Open dimensions…?"

"It's like reaper magic. We hide the weapon like we hide our aura, because the demons that would feed on ghosts, souls, would feed on us, hunting us by sensing our energy. Right now some…things have somehow locked onto us and I'm going to fight them in a minute when they catch up. You're going to stay out of my way and not get hurt, okay?" Cat spoke incredibly calmly but that did nothing for the sudden fear Tara felt. Cat was going to fight demons with a magic sword while she stood around holding groceries? She seriously doubted a few pots of instant noodles and cereal were going to do much against any demon. "Okay?" Cat repeated more firmly. Tara nodded vigorously, not knowing what else to do.

"Um, I don't suppose you could conjure up a spare?" She asked, indicating Cat's weapon. The reaper cast her a strange look, but found no time to answer as a bellow of rage announced the arrival of the strangest demon Tara had ever seen. A tall humanoid…_thing_ lumbered into view, burning yellow eyes boring straight into Cat, staring out from a face of mottled black and grey leathery skin, smooth and completely hairless. Its fingers twisted into sharp claws that twitched at its side as it barred a mouthful of razor sharp yellowed fangs at the two women.

"Abomination…" Cat breathed, looking a little stunned. Tara was struck by just how human it appeared, the head, the two arms and two hands, the two legs and two feet. Then it charged, arms outstretched and claws grasping, straight for Cat. The reaper drew her sword edge up and struck in a single fluid motion. The demon exploded into ash all around her as two more of the creatures raced into the street, barely pausing before they sprinted towards their targets. "Duck!" Cat ordered, and Tara dropped into a crouch, ducking her head down. She heard cold steel whistle above her followed by a loud _poof_. Ash rained down over her. She raised her eyes in time to see Cat side step the third beast and slash as it raced by, bursting into a cloud of grey dust mid-stride. Cat slid her sword back into its saya and reached a hand down to Tara to help her up, looking worried.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Um…I think so, I-A-abomination?" Cat opened her mouth to respond when they were both frozen to the spot by what sounded like a horrific cross between a screech and a roar but was definitely demonic in origin and worryingly close by. Cat swallowed, eyes hard, jaw tense.

"That would be something we don't want to meet." She announced. "Run! Leave the shopping, life more important than noodles!" She grabbed Tara's hand and dashed in the opposite direction of whatever monster they had attracted now. Tara heard the heavy pounding of something chasing them on all fours, gaining ground at a horrific speed, and then it was finally upon them. She heard the rumble of a roar begin in its throat and was about to glance over her shoulder when Cat shoved her forwards and twisted round to face their adversary.

"RUN!" She screamed, drawing her sword and slashing in a great downwards arc while charging passed the shadow demon. Tara needed no second bidding and took off down the street as Cat faced off a hulking mass of rippling muscle and knife-like claws. Black skin made the beast blend seamlessly with the shadows, the only thing giving it away being eyes that burned like the fires of Hell themselves. It let out an angry screech as the katana opened a wound in its shoulder and Cat darted passed, ducking beneath a wild swipe and coming up behind the demon. As she moved to drive the point of her sword through its spine the creature whirled and knocked the blade off course. Cat found herself staring up into a bat-like face with a turned up nose and elongated ears. She waited for the beast to make its move, waited to counter strike.

Tara reached the end of the street and ducked down behind a parked car out of sight of the monster. She peered through the windows to watch as Cat ducked and weaved around the demon, sword flashing out and striking unprotected spots to weaken the best before she moved in for the kill. It seemed like a disturbingly hardy demon, heavily muscled and surprisingly fast, easily over six feet tall even though it stood bow-legged with rounded shoulders. A shadow fell across the glass then, a distorted reflection. Tara whipped round to look behind her and screamed, throwing herself aside just in time as four inch claws swung down and raked the side of the car.

"Tara!" Cat shouted, glancing over in the direction of the older woman and gasping as her eyes fell upon the abomination stalking towards Tara as she scrambled backwards (dearly wishing she had held onto the shopping so she could at least swing something at the creature…) "Don't let it touch you!" She started towards Tara, but was brought to her knees with a shout by a powerful strike from behind that ripped across her shoulders. Even that short burst of contact was enough to drain her almost completely of energy. The beast behind her roared in triumph and reached forwards to seize her by the throat and finish her off. Cat twisted and her blade darted out sideways, cleaving through muscle and bone. With a screech of agony the demon crashed down beside her, suddenly minus one foot, and Cat was off like a shot down the street towards Tara and the creature bearing down on her. She threw herself at the demon, sword held in front of her with both hands as she relied on the speed behind the blade to drive it forwards. As a solid form became mere ash, Cat fell forwards, her legs unable to support her. She was fading fast, suffering both from the deep gouges in her back and the sudden loss of energy courtesy of her attacker.

"C-Cat!" Tara cried, struggling to haul her into a sitting position.

The reaper's skin was pale and clammy, her vision starting to blur around the edges.

"Gotta move." Cat said, stumbling to her feet. She leaned against Tara's previous hiding place and blinked to bring the demon down the street into focus. It was just starting to rise, relying on one leg and two hands now. The energy it had stolen from her began to heal the minor wounds she had inflicted. "Hurry." She pushed off from the car and Tara wrapped an arm around her waist to help the reaper stand.

"You need help, Cat!" Tara said desperately, trying to move them both as fast as she could. They turned the corner at the end of the street and the demon gave an angry roar as it momentarily lost sight of them.

"I'll be fine." The reaper said through grit teeth, leading them towards the shadows of an alley way across the road between two houses. Behind them the demon began to follow, awkwardly at first but soon growing used to moving with one less limb. No sooner had they stepped between the high walls, Cat gave a moan and slumped forwards, out of Tara's arms and onto the ground. Tara gasped and dropped to her knees beside the reaper.

"Cat, wake up!" She cried, glancing back onto the street. The demon was approaching, slowly bearing down on them, knowing it had them cornered, powerless. "Please, Cat!" Tara grabbed her shoulder and shook her desperately. She could hear the low rumble in the beast's throat, the thud and scrape as one hand was placed before the other and razor sharp talons scratched at the tarmac beneath. Not knowing what else to do Tara snatched up the fallen reaper's sword and crouched over her, preparing to fight. She held the weapon out in front of her with both hands gripping the soft leather hilt as she had seen Cat do while fighting. She had no clue what she was doing, she had never used a sword before, most certainly not against a towering wall of muscle and inky black skin, but the blade would be better than whatever magic she cast right now. The demon paused across the road, fiery eyes burning into her. "You won't hurt her." Tara told it defiantly. The demon pulled back black lips from white fangs, snarled in response. The blade trembled in her hands. What a way to go. Again. And poor Cat…

The demon took another step forward and then halted, bending knees and elbows and lowering itself into a crouch. One single lunge and it would be on her in a whirlwind of snapping fangs and slashing claws.

"I'm sorry…" She breathed. Even if she managed to inadvertently get a strike in as the creature landed she would never kill it, not with Cat's strength combined with the demon's own. Tara slowly moved one hand from the sword down to grasp at Cat's icy cold fingers and squeeze them, taking some small comfort from the idea that at least she wouldn't die alone.

Cat felt a bolt of electricity-no, magic-shoot through her at the contact, jerking her back into the land of consciousness the instant it crackled across her palm and up her arm, tingling through her entire body. Her eyes snapped open as she felt the surge of energy, and she turned her head to look at Tara, who only just had the time to register shock before fainting beside the reaper. Cat was instantly on her feet and swiping her blade from mid-air before it even had the time to drop from Tara's hand to the ground. She faced down the demon, body thrumming with magical energy. She felt as though she had downed a line of double espressos. Even the deep scours across her shoulders were knitting back together much faster than they had any business doing so, even for a reaper. What the Hell had Tara done to her? Whatever it was had given the demon reason to pause and in that moment Cat flew at it, blade flashing. As it raised an arm to strike her down Cat dropped to the ground and slid between its legs, blade held upwards and slicing clean through its body. She rolled back to her feet as the demon crumbled to dust behind her.

She stood there for a moment, chest heaving, feeling…incredible. The wounds in her back had closed, leaving her T-shirt torn and soaked with blood. Her skin practically tingled and she was bursting with energy, meaning… Tara had accidentally used a reaper trick, passing spirit or magic energy from one person to another. Clearly the trick had wiped her out. As Cat turned she saw the older woman out cold as she herself had been only moments before. Apparently passing back into the land of the living had given her magic a makeover.

* * *

><p>Tara woke with what felt like the world's worst hangover, wondering what the Hell had happened to her. Then she remembered the demon and her eyes snapped open. Soft lamplight sent sharp fingers of pain burrowing through her brain and she squeezed her eyelids closed again.<p>

"It's okay." Cat murmured from somewhere nearby. Tara cracked an eye open and saw the reaper moving from her perch on the writing desk over to her bed. They were back at the hotel. Tara swallowed several times, trying to work some moisture into her parched mouth.

"W-what-"

"Magic." Cat replied. Tara looked at her blankly through her one half open eye. "Want the light off?"

"No." Tara mumbled. Cat smiled and sat beside her on the bed, reached out to feel her forehead. Tara was pleased to note the reaper's fingers had regained their warmth.

"So, those demons…" Cat began. "The big one was a shadow demon. They feast on spirit energy, which is what happened to me." Tara watched her quietly, listening to the explanation. "The other demons are the worrying ones. They're…What happens if a reaper decides to keep a spirit on this plane rather than sending them on, and binds them to their will." Cat looked troubled. "So their presence suggests a rogue reaper is operating in this area." She paused, grey eyes thoughtful. "Anyway. When I passed out you woke me up by channelling your energy into me. That's reaper magic." Tara looked alarmed.

"A-am I-?!"

"You're mortal. Human. Not a reaper." Cat assured her. "I think it happened by bringing yo back." Tara relaxed visibly, though looked confused. "And thanks, by the way. You saved us by doing that." Tara offered a crooked smile.

"I have no clue how I did it…" She mumbled, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers.

"How do you feel?" Cat asked and Tara closed her eyes and groaned.

"Like I ran a marathon then went ten rounds with Mike Tyson." She said. "You?" She opened one eye again, trying to ignore the steady pounding in her skull. Cat shifted uncomfortably.

"Pretty fantastic." She admitted. "Had to bin my T-shirt though. Here, give me your hand." She held out her hand to Tara, who was about to comply when she realized Cat was going to do the reaper energy surge thing and shook her head.

"I'll be fine. Just need painkillers and water." She said.

"And food." Cat replied, hopping to her feet and heading to the door of their room. She opened it to reveal a young man with a white plastic bag laden down with something in one hand, the other raised ready to knock. He looked surprised to see Cat who simply winked and said, "Heard ya coming."

Tara shuffled into a sitting position, wincing as fireworks bounced around her cranium. She heard the door click shut and then Cat was returning to the bed with the heavy bag.

"I ordered Chinese seeing as how the food run went wrong." She explained, dumping everything on the bed. "Chicken chow mein. Help yourself and I'll hunt down my painkillers." As Cat disappeared into the bathroom Tara investigated the contents of the plastic bag. She withdrew a bag of prawn crackers, then a carton of noodley goodness and some chopsticks and set to work, suddenly ravenous. "Here y'go!" Cat reappeared brandishing a box of paracetamol and a glass of water just in time to find Tara midway through shovelling a load of noodles into her mouth. Tara paused and looked up at her, causing Cat to snigger. "Hail Cthulhu." Tara blushed and quickly hid her face. "Don't worry, I know the channelling makes you wicked hungry." Tara swallowed and took the painkillers and water from her.

"I, um…noticed." She mumbled, popping two pills from the foil and palming them into her mouth. She took a mouthful of water from her glass, tipped her head back and swallowed, then put glass and pills on her bedside table and resumed eating. "How did you get us back here?" She asked curiously.

"'arry'oo." Cat said around a mouthful of noodles and chicken. Tara arched one eyebrow and seized the chance to tease her back for the Cthulhu comment.

"Hot." She replied. Cat chucked a chopstick at her, which Tara deflected from her forearm with a giggle.

"I carried you." Cat said more clearly, reclaiming her chopstick. Tara eyed the short and skinny woman before her. Apparently magic wasn't the only thing reapers gained upon rebirth if Cat was able to carry unconscious Tara all the way back to the hotel. She had a lot to learn.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just want to say thanks for the reviews! And also, I like to reference stuff (games, films, books, etc) and it's started in this chapter, so... I'm not ripping stuff off, just having a bit of fun ;)**

* * *

><p>Darkness settled over the town like a blanket, lifted somewhat by the yellow sodium glow of the street lamps lining each road. Wisps of silvery cloud stretched across the heavens, almost completely hiding the deep blue velvet sky and bright white pinpricks of stars. A soft white glow behind a particularly thick cloud bank was all that could be seen of the moon.<p>

As the hours dragged by and the moon began to set Buffy found herself on the edge of town nearing a cemetery encircled by a high black metal fence, long bars of iron jutting way above head height and topped with spikes to discourage climbing. The slayers had split up not long into their patrol in an attempt to cover more ground, though they didn't really expect to find much in the way of…well, anything really. That day's research had revealed little in the way of mystical weirdness. Just the odd potential vampire attack here and there. Nothing that really screamed 'the end is nigh'.

Feeling like she had spent the majority of her life walking between headstones and mausoleums but adopting the 'better safe than sorry' mind set, Buffy made her way over to the black-painted railings and peered through, fingers curling around two poles as she leaned forwards to get a better view. The metal felt cold against her skin.

Within the fence's border the cemetery was quiet and still, dark and undisturbed. A gravel pathway lead from the gates at the entrance through the centre, neat green grass either side with row upon row of headstones and the odd mausoleum towards the back. The sun would soon be rising and so this would be the last stop. Buffy stepped back from the fence, crouched and vaulted clean over the tall iron bars, landing near soundlessly on the grass on the other side. Trees and hedges created a grid-like system throughout the cemetery, throwing deep shadows around the edges of each large section. She started off across the grass, opting to avoid the gravel as it would create too much noise, walking between headstones and statues. Her eyes drifted from one patch of shadow to the next, searching for signs of life. Or rather, un-life…

She had almost reached the cemetery's boundary when an explosion of noise erupted from the small cluster of trees behind her and Buffy sidestepped as a blur of shadow blew right past her, going too fast to turn and follow her dodge. She helped it forwards with a sharp open-palmed jab between the shoulders and her attacker ran face first into the mausoleum she had been approaching, bounced off and fell over backwards. As he lay dazed on the grass Buffy took in the ridged forehead and yellow eyes that told her all she needed to know.

"Nice to see some things never change." She commented with a light smirk, reaching back for the wooden stake tucked into the back of her jeans. Sunnydale may be a crater but vamps still needed dusting. She watched the vampire scramble back onto his feet. He swung at her and she easily blocked, wondering vaguely, as she did so, if Kennedy had found any beasties lurking in town. This was the first Buffy had come across that night and if this town was indeed near a Hellmouth as both her and Kennedy's dreams had suggested, then that was definitely weird. Or was it? Sunnydale had been _on_ a Hellmouth. Maybe there were different degrees of…Hellmouthness…

Growing bored of deflecting her adversary's sloppy punches Buffy knocked his next swing wide and slammed her stake home through his ribs and into his chest. He exploded into ash with the usual satisfying _paff _and Buffy nodded in approval, spinning the stake in her palm before stuffing it back into her waistband.

"Well, I guess that's me done for the day." She frowned softly. "Night…" She turned and made her way back through the cemetery, leaped the fence once more and headed on the long walk back to the pub.

* * *

><p>The door clicked softly closed behind her as Buffy let herself back into the pub. She carefully locked it again and moved away. The whole building was eerily quiet and so she winced when the bottom step creaked loudly beneath her foot as she made her way up the stairs to the rooms above, switching the keys on the key ring she had been given at the start of her stay from 'guests' front door' to 'guests' bedroom'. She pressed the keys tight into her palm to stop them jingling as she reached the landing at the top of the stairs and almost jumped a foot in the air as the door back down the stairs burst open and Kennedy fell through, landing heavily against the wall opposite.<p>

"Kennedy!" Buffy hissed. "What are you-Oh God!" She rushed back down the stairs to aid her fellow slayer as Kennedy turned her shoulders to the wall, slid down it to sit on the floor and kicked the door closed.

"I'm fine." She said, voice tense. Her body was covered in deep scratches and bruises. Everything hurt, she felt as though she had been trampled under a stampede of elephants. She closed her eyes against a wave of nausea and weakness.

"What happened?!" Buffy cried, dropping to her knees behind Kennedy, who shook her head and managed to haul herself back onto her feet.

"Ugh, can it wait?" She said, managing to lock the door. "I don't wanna have to repeat it to everyone." She limped towards the stairs. "Just, it was some demon group. Killed them. More in the morning." Buffy was about to argue but supposed the specifics really could wait a couple of hours for Kennedy to recover and for the Scoobies to assemble.

"All right." She wrapped one arm around Kennedy's waist to help her get upstairs. "How badly hurt are you?"

"Well," Kennedy said, voice tight with pain, "I think I'm a walking bruise, but no broken bones." They paused on the landing, Buffy releasing Kennedy as the dark haired slayer checked her balance.

"Willow's gonna freak…" Buffy said, eyeing her up, taking in the extent of the injuries she could see. Kennedy raised an eyebrow (and winced).

"I know." She said, and started off down the hallway for her room, keys in hand. Buffy followed, pausing outside her own room to watch Kennedy carefully unlock the door of the room she was sharing with Willow.

"No kinky nurse stuff." Buffy couldn't help teasing.

"So not an issue right now…" Kennedy muttered, and limped into her room.

* * *

><p>Willow was brought from her slumber by a loud thud and a hissed string of swear words. She slid into a sitting position, reaching out and palming the switch on the wall beside the bed to turn on the reading light above her head. Kennedy looked up from where she stood leaning against the dressing table clutching at one foot, having stubbed her toes trying to reach the bed in darkness. Willow's eyes widened in horror as she took in her girlfriend's injured form and she flew from the bed to her aid.<p>

"Kennedy! What happened?!" She cried, bringing the slayer over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Kennedy insisted, flexing her toes. She felt Willow's warm fingers beneath her chin, then her head was tipped back carefully, and she met Willow's distressed gaze. "Really. Just a fight that didn't go entirely to plan."

"Well, you're clearly not fine." The redhead answered, gesturing wildly at Kennedy's battered body. She turned away to find the Slayer First Aid Kit (a normal first aid kit that saw more use from the Slayers and so had become a regular slayer feature…) thus making Kennedy sigh.

"I didn't want to wake you." She admitted, lifting up her previously white tank top (now stained with blood and dirt) and pulling it off over her head, sensing she was about to be smothered in witch hazel seeing as she was covered in bruises. She chucked her now ruined top into the corner of the room (light colours and fights to the death never work out) and watched Willow rummage through the drawers across the room.

"Well, I'm glad you did!" Willow said, locating the green plastic box and popping it open to check the contents. "You need my help." Kennedy was about to reply that she didn't need any help but decided against it. That would only upset Willow further. Instead she glanced down at the floor and rubbed the top of one arm to ease the ache in her muscle. Willow turned back to her and brought the box over, green eyes filled with worry as she took in Kennedy's sorry state, the cuts and the bruises. "Oh, sweetie, what happened?" She asked softly, sitting next to Kennedy and brushing aside her long fringe to eye the scrape on her forehead.

"Crazyass demons happened." Kennedy grumbled. Willow rummaged in her box for antiseptic wipes and plasters for some of the deeper cuts. "I was about to head back here. Patrol was way uneventful. But then I got this weird feeling…"

_She had been walking for hours and near enough crossed the town without stumbling across anything even remotely Slayer-related. No vampires, no monsters, no people to save… But then again there was a lot of ground to cover. She didn't know the feeding grounds of vampires, the nest hotspots, the demon bars. Perhaps she should check out a couple of maps to get a feel of the place? That could probably help narrow down the Hellmouth location too._

_ She froze suddenly as she felt the fine hairs at the back of her neck prickle, her spider sense tingling as Buffy put it. Where had that come from? Every fibre of her being was primed and ready to react. Something was coming, she could feel it. Something dark and dangerous that had her instinctively looking for a way out. And then she heard them, racing down the streets ahead until finally four tall creatures with black and grey mottled skin and long arms and legs, sharp fangs and fearsome claws burst into view and charged straight at her…_

"…So I fought them off but then one touched me and it…leeched the energy right out of me!" Kennedy explained. Willow listened quietly, gently dabbing witch hazel onto her girlfriend's bruises to speed their healing. "So not something I want to feel ever again." She shuddered. Willow reached out to gently brush her fingers against Kennedy's cheek, causing the slayer to look up and meet her gaze.

"You won't." She promised. "We'll call a Scooby meeting in the morning-"

"It is morning." Kennedy interrupted. Willow raised an eyebrow and Kennedy gave a little grin and waved at her to continue speaking.

"We'll call a Scooby meeting in the morning," she repeated, "and figure this all out. Do you think there are more of them? More demons?" Kennedy nodded, absently chewing the inside of her lip as she thought back to the moments where her fight or flight instinct had been weighted heavily towards flight.

"Yeah, I think so." She murmured. "I think I could feel them…" She looked down at her hand as Willow smoothed a plaster over a deep gash between two knuckles, then up again at vibrant green eyes, turning her hand over to press their palms together and lace their fingers. "They're like sponges." She said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Willow looked baffled. Kennedy gave a crooked smile, realizing how out of the blue that had sounded.

"I was just thinking. The one that…Stole my energy?" Was that even what had happened? It must have. It was using her as a power source. "Seconds later it was like it was suddenly stronger. They seemed pretty weak, but this one? He picked me up and put me through a BMW's windshield." Willow's eyes widened and Kennedy was quick to attempt to reconcile. "The car looks worse. Promise. I'm fine. I walked here! Plus, killed the demons." Willow didn't look convinced, so Kennedy gave the hand she held a comforting squeeze.

"I don't think patrol should be just you and just Buffy if those are the things that live here…" She mumbled.

"We can discuss that in the morning. Right now, I am beat." Kennedy flopped backwards on the bed, leaving her legs hanging over the side.

"How about you get _in_ the bed." Willow suggested, pulling away from her girlfriend to stand up and help Kennedy out of her combats, folding them neatly and laying them over the back of the chair pushed under the desk opposite the bed.

"'cause that involves moving…" Kennedy replied. On seeing the look Willow gave her she hurriedly sat up and made to move under the duvet. "Of which I am perfectly capable of doing because I am fine." Willow whipped off the slayer's socks and put them in their designated dirty laundry bag. She climbed back into her side of the bed, pulled the covers up and clicked out the reading light.

"'Night, Will." The slayer mumbled, snuggling close.

"'Night, Kennedy." Willow lay her head down on the pillow and nestled into the comfy feathery goodness, eyes drifting closed to finish what had been a great night's sle-

"Where's my goodnight kiss, then?" Kennedy demanded. Willow opened her eyes and even in the gloom could see the playful smirk on her lips. She arched one eyebrow, but couldn't resist leaning over to place a short but sweet kiss against that smirk.

"There." She said, trying to hide her amusement. "Now go to sleep." Satisfied, Kennedy tucked her head beneath her lover's chin and did just that.

* * *

><p>The Scoobies had claimed a table for breakfast that morning without Willow and Kennedy after Buffy explained the second slayer probably needed a lie in after a rough night patrolling. While expecting a Scooby meeting and a beat up Kennedy, Giles, Xander and Dawn were clearly not prepared for the sight of a tired and shuffley, battered slayer trailing behind her red-headed Wiccan lover midway through their breakfast.<p>

"Oh my God, your face!" Xander said loudly. Giles shot him a dark look as Buffy and Dawn gaped at him. Kennedy quirked one eyebrow, coming over to sit at the table. "I mean, uh…morning, Kennedy…" He hastily looked back down at his breakfast.

"What happened?" Giles asked, concerned. Willow gave her girlfriend's shoulder a gentle squeeze and left to order breakfast at the bar. She knew the story having wrested it from Kennedy while cleaning her up before bed.

"Some sort of…demon." Kennedy said with a sigh. Xander looked up at that.

"Demon?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah." Kennedy said. "You know, like," she raised her hands up and made them into claws, "Grrr, argh!" She gnashed her teeth at him.

"Oh. Those." Xander went back to his breakfast.

"What did it look like?" Giles asked.

"They." Kennedy corrected. "They were kinda tall and lanky. Claws, fangs. Oh, glowing eyes and black skin. Like…kind of dead I guess. They were weak, but when they got me it was like they sucked the energy right out of me and used it to fuel themselves. I killed 'em quick and bailed before more could turn up. And I'm pretty sure there were more, I think I could sort of sense them." She sighed, hanging her head and closing her eyes. "I still feel really drained from it."

"Nothing that a hearty breakfast won't fix." Xander grinned at her. "Right, Buff?"

"Right." Buffy replied. "And several gallons of coffee." Dawn offered up her coffee, but Kennedy declined as she would soon have her own, courtesy of Willow.

"Being a slayer should help considerably." Giles added as he frowned at his toast while processing Kennedy's description. He shook his head and looked up at her. "That doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard of." He said of the demon after a moment.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the Hellmouthy openy thing?" Willow asked as she dropped into the seat beside Kennedy, taking one of the slayer's hands and squeezing lightly as she noticed her picking at the edges of the plaster stuck over cut knuckles.

"Perhaps. We'll need to look into it." Silence fell over the group as Kennedy and Willow's breakfasts turned up at the table along with two coffees. The waiter gathered up empty plates and cups, then left again.

"So we're going to spend all day with the books again?" Buffy asked, trying not to sound too dejected.

"We'll give you the books with pictures in." Dawn teased her sister.

"We do need to figure this out, Buffy." Willow said, making a start on her full English. "What if the demons are important? They're clearly dangerous. Look what they did to Kennedy! Sorry Kennedy..." She gave an apologetic smile at her girlfriend's indignant pout. "Anyway. If there are more, we need to know about them." She brandished a piece of sausage on the end of her fork before popping it into her mouth. "Mmm, I love sausage."

"No you don't." Kennedy sniggered. Giles inhaled his tea and began choking. Willow looked aghast as Xander hurriedly began patting Giles on the back.

"Bad Jew." Buffy teased.

Just an hour later found the group gathered in Giles' room again, in full research mode, leafing through his books in an attempt to find either an illustration or written description of the creatures Kennedy had stumbled across that night.

"Do all of these really exist?" Kennedy asked, flicking through a hefty leather-bound tome, her features scrunching with increasing levels of disgust. "This one has seven heads and his guts are on the outside…"

"At one time or another, yes." Giles replied. "Some are believed to have become extinct. Some were one of a kind and killed."

"Good." The dark haired slayer muttered.

"Is this it?" Buffy held up her book, showing Kennedy a picture of what was presumably a very tall humanoid beast covered in shaggy fur, chowing down on fleeing humans.

"Nope. Mine were hairless." She said.

"Oh." Buffy sighed and resumed her search.

"I think we really need to make the effort to learn demon species so we can identify them on sight." Dawn said. "You know, like a birdwatcher. Except with demons."

"But then we wouldn't be able to have these super fun research parties." Xander said, feigning disappointment.

"Need I remind you these 'super fun research parties' are usually what aid us in saving the world from impending doom?" Giles asked, looking up from his notes to fix Xander with a stern look. Xander turned his gaze immediately back to dry parchment and black ink.

"Oh." Willow grabbed Kennedy's hand suddenly, green eyes on the book in front of her. Kennedy shot her a strange look. "Oh! Here! This!" The redheaded Wiccan shoved her book on top of Kennedy's tapping the drawing in the top left hand corner of the page she had been reading. "The description sounds right and everything." Kennedy picked up the book and was quiet a moment, eyes lingering on the image, then drifting across lines of text. She looked up finally, glancing from Willow to Giles and nodding.

"This is it." She said, handing over the book as Giles reached out for it. He dropped his own book onto the bed beside Dawn and read quietly for a moment.

"It's called an Abomination." He explained after several minutes had passed. "It originates as the spirit of someone newly dead and is turned into a demon through some sort of…spell. They feed off the energy of the living and fear the sun, a bit like vampires."

"They turn to dust as well when killed." Kennedy said, nodding her head.

"They're created by Death Gods-"

"Gods?!" Xander cried. "We're dealing with gods again?!"

"So it would seem." Giles said. "Give me a moment, I have something here about death gods…" He broke off to rummage on the desk opposite his bed, turning over sheaves of paper and more books until he found the one he was looking for. He quickly flicked through the pages and began reading. "Yes, Shinigami." He said. "Also known as Death Gods, Soul Reapers, Grim Reaper. Thanatos, Hermes, Santa Muerta, Ankou… Every culture has their story. Death gods are said to help spirits move on from life into death and may even possess the ability to raise a person from the dead."

"They?" Buffy asked. "They're plural?"

"They sound like a cheery bunch." Kennedy commented drily.

"So they might not be all bad, right?" Willow spoke up. "I mean, bringing someone back from the dead isn't so bad…right?" She glanced over at Buffy uncertainly. Buffy offered a small smile in reassurance.

"Ah…" Giles said suddenly, eyes still on his book. The group paused somewhat apprehensively. "They are also able to unlock dimensions-such as Hellmouths-via a certain ritual using the blood moon of a lunar tetrad."

"A whobewhatnow?" Buffy asked.

"Why's it always a blood moon?" Xander grumbled.

"Well," Giles said, removing his glasses and finding he had no free hand to clean the lenses, "Mythologically speaking the blood moon does symbolise the end of days…"

"So, does your book say anything else about death gods?" Kennedy asked. "Like, you know…how to kill them?"

"Er, no, it doesn't give much in the way of…well…useful information really." Giles said, pushing his glasses back onto his face to peruse the limited text. "They can suck the life out of living things-"

"Like their little Frankensteins." Dawn said.

"-and wield death magic." He paused to turn the page. "There's a little here about the ritual." He glanced over the passage. "Oh, well, it's quite basic really. It requires the light of the blood moon of a lunar tetrad-that is a succession of four total lunar eclipses with six lunar months in between-and a blood sacrifice-that doesn't have to kill the victim but undoubtedly will knowing our luck-to imbue the death god's weapon of choice-usually a sword-with enough magic to unlock the gateways into various dimensions."

"Yes, incredibly basic." Xander quipped.

"Let me guess, there's a blood moon coming right up?" Kennedy asked.

"Yes." Willow replied gloomily.

"There is in fact one starting…six nights from now, I believe." Giles confirmed.

"Oh joy." Buffy muttered.

"Well, at least it sounds like the death god will have a very limited time frame in which to work." Giles said optimistically. "Totality will last only an hour or two, maybe less."

"That's great!" Xander said. "So let's just go down to the place this ritual will kick off in and take care of it! Oh wait. We don't know where that is."

"Well, we have six days to figure it out." Dawn said.

"More research…?" Buffy asked morosely.

"And reconnaissance!" Kennedy said, hopping to her feet.

"Uh, no!" Willow grabbed her hand to halt her and Kennedy looked back, confused and expectant. "You need to recuperate." The redhead raised an eyebrow. Kennedy scowled at her. It was a very good point. She was still injured and didn't quite feel up to slayer strength.

"Yes, Nurse Willow."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Had a crazy day today what with seeing doctors and having blood tests! So nearly forgot to update! XD Whoops :P**

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><p>"I can find <em>nothing<em> on killing soul reapers or death gods or _anything_." Dawn grumbled, slamming shut another thick ancient tome and choking in the resulting cloud of dust.

"Giles, you really need to take better care of your books…" Buffy said, inching away from her sister and trying to waft the cloud away.

"I can't help feeling we're not meant to find anything…" Xander said from where he sat in the corner with a book still open on the title page. The group looked over at him, waiting for an explanation. "Well, when me and Dawn took our trip to the library all we found online were links to boring tourist sites and weird occult pages that were completely useless. You guys have still found nothing in the books and we've been at this all day. Maybe we're just trying to look up ways to defeat death…" He shook his head and shrugged. "That just isn't possible."

"Hey, I've cheated death enough times to know it's possible!" Buffy said a little indignantly. "We're just not looking hard enough." She insisted.

"I've been looking so hard my eyeballs are going to fall out." Kennedy muttered. Giles shot her a sceptical look, having noticed her snoozing again midway through the study session. Though she did admittedly look a lot better for it. In fact, she seemed almost completely back to full health, bar the cuts and bruises.

"Besides," Buffy continued, "anything can die. How many apocalypses and disasters have we stopped now?"

"What if we don't need to kill it?" Willow suggested. The group's collective gaze shifted to her and she dropped her eyes, the attention making her suddenly doubt her plan. "What if we could trap it and…I don't know, send it to another dimension?" That, she realized, probably required a lot of magic, something she still wasn't too comfortable with despite the success of her ritual with the scythe back in Sunnydale. "Or experiment with explosives…" Death it was, then.

"I hadn't thought of that." Giles admitted, looking thoughtful. "Though I prefer the idea of explosives to dimensional rifts. They're less volatile."

"Really…?" Xander asked deadpan, clearly disbelieving.

"Or we could just go with a big ole axe and get medieval on its ass." Buffy said.

"I like that plan." Kennedy said, and happily returned to studying her book.

* * *

><p>Darkness was falling faster that evening as a thick bank of roiling dark clouds swallowed the last of the sun's rays. Cat eyed the storm clouds warily as she walked into town to pick up some food for Tara and herself after their last foray had gone disastrously wrong. Take-out for every meal was fast losing its appeal.<p>

She heard a car door _thunk_ closed down the street and raised her eyes towards the first sign of life she had seen since leaving Tara in their room about to take a shower. And then there was the second sign of life from behind her, impossibly close. The sense of someone she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Kitty Cat!" A male voice, American and full of cheer and…something else. Something out of place for that voice. Cat whirled round and stared in shock, coming face to face with a tall athletic man in his late twenties, silvery blond hair swept back from his face and bright blue eyes that had once been warm and kind but were now cold and distant. The change in the man she once knew made her smile falter and unease settle in the pit of her stomach, albeit briefly.

"Rigel?" She said in disbelief. "What are you doing here? I didn't-I haven't-Don't call me that." Rigel looked down at her with a familiar smirk and Cat cracked a grin, unease forgotten already. "I haven't seen you in forever!" He grunted in agreement.

"Since you were given Sunnydale." He replied, tipping his head to one side and shooting her a teasing stare. "I hear it's a crater now."

"Not my fault." Cat was hasty to explain. "So what are you doing here? I had no idea another reaper was in the area." That was a lie. Someone was creating abominations.

Rigel simply smiled and locked gaze with her, piercing blue eyes boring into her. Cat found herself unable to look away and swallowed hard, agitation coming back in full force. Something was very wrong here.

"Oh, I think you know." He said softly. Something was very, very wrong.

"I do…?" She mumbled, trying and failing to stop the wheels turning. Yes she did. She did, but she didn't want to. That three reapers were operating here would be too big a coincidence. That meant one reaper had gone rogue and was creating monsters and one had been called to deal with the situation and get things under control. Rigel had gone rogue. Rigel was the reason she was here. She inched backwards and that damn smirk spread across his smug face once more. Rigel, who had always been stronger and faster than her. This situation was most definitely not under control.

"Ah, she gets it." He said patronisingly, folding his arms over his chest and tipping his head back slightly to look down his nose at her. "You always were a little…slow." Cat glared at him.

"So you want to open the Hellmouth?" She said, shifting her weight slightly, sliding her left leg back almost imperceptibly, adjusting her body for a fight. Rigel twisted his mouth as though in thought, then grinned and nodded. "And then what? Bask in the glorious bloodbath that inevitably follows? You'll be just as much a victim as the rest of us!"

Rigel chuckled.

"That's where you're wrong, oh narrow sighted one." He replied. "All of Hell may be unleashed, but I will still have power over them. And the humans. We'll rule over them. While you're here, you should join me, for old times' sake." He grinned at her as Cat simply stared at him.

"Me?!" She yelped. "What?! Why? Have you gone mad?!" Surely he knew she had been guided to him to put an end to such things? And here he was, taunting her.

"No, but you have." He pointed a finger at her, then spread his arms wide. "We are gods! We're meant to rule!"

"We are _not_ gods! 'God' is a label given to us by mortals that didn't understand!" Cat cried. "We're just…beings with death magic! That's all!" This was so unlike the man she had known all those years ago. Or was it? Had he simply hidden this….ambition at the time? Or had something changed him?

"Really, Cat?" He replied disdainfully. "We're given a second chance at life with incredible powers and you want to spend it being shepherded around by The Powers That Can't Be Assed, protecting spooks?"

"You arrogant little shit!" Cat snarled. Rigel eyed her with one eyebrow raised, eyes sweeping head to toe and back again, taking in her small stature. Cat shifted awkwardly. "All right then, arrogant big shit. Better?"

"Not really. I was hoping to see a remarkable display of swordplay, not petty name calling." That was when a longsword shimmered into existence in front of him. Over three feet of double edged steel encased in black leather and bright silver, and Cat knew she was in trouble. Rigel rested his hands on the cross guard either side of the leather-bound handle. Black jet shone in the pommel.

"Why here?" Cat stalled. "Why come here? You had all of America. You had LA, right?" Rigel simply smiled at her.

"What can I say, Kitty Cat? I saw here and thought of you." She knew he was trying to wind her up. Most likely here was the one Hellmouth he had located without a slayer nearby.

"Where is it?" She asked. "The Hellmouth."

"Oh, you know." He replied coyly. Cat backed off then, feeling the pull of his aura, rushing around her almost like the tug of a magnet. She realized suddenly that he was calling spirits to himself.

"Would you quit with the cryptic crap?!" She snapped at him, summoning her sword to her side from its place hidden within the ether. A silvery mist began to swirl around Rigel as he fixed her with a taunting stare, bright blue eyes burning into her like chips of ice. Said mist began to solidify into transparent echoes of humans, surrounding Rigel and looking none too pleased with their position. She felt his aura lock them into place and stared at him in horror. "Are you _binding_ them?!"

"Maybe." He grinned at her, finding her reaction hilarious.

"You can't do that!" But who was she to stop him?

"Well, actually I can." Rigel replied. "And I am. And so can you."

"It's wrong!" Cat took a step forwards, preparing to draw her sword, only to find herself forced back by something akin to an invisible palm rammed into her chest. She staggered backwards and looked up at her old friend. He looked amused, and hadn't moved an inch.

"Why give us the ability if we're not meant to use it?" He asked.

"Just because you're able to do something doesn't mean you should!" She shot back. "We were created to aid spirits in the crossing! Not shackle them to our will."

"You always were reaper's pet." Rigel said, lifting his sword and yanking it free of the sheath, which he carelessly tossed aside to land in the road with a loud clatter. Cat felt cold hard ice settle in her stomach, watching him thumb the blood channel of that steel blade. She could feel the energy around it humming.

"What are you-no!" She leaped back as he swung the sword in a wide arc, passing through the three spirits before him in a blinding flash. Three screams of terror and agony swiftly becoming the blood curdling hunting cry of three demons. Cat turned and ran before the transformation could be completed, as Rigel created something that shouldn't be, spirit to demon. And only a reaper could make such a thing. Why? She hated The Powers then, or whoever had created such magic. Surely Rigel wasn't the first to give in to his strength? The temptation had to have lured more than him to the darker side of their power.

She ran as fast as she could, Rigel's laughter hounding her steps. Followed by the enraged screams of three abominations as they raced after her. A shrill of fear crept up her spine, irrational but all consuming until all she could comprehend was throwing one foot in front of the other and getting the Hell out of there.

Rigel was her target. Rigel whose reaper powers had awakened with hers, who had been trained with her. Who was now abusing that gift, hurting innocents, creating _monsters_. Irrational fear became mindless rage. Rigel was stronger than her, faster, had been in the game longer. He tested the limits of his power and had handed Cat her butt on more than one occasion in the early days. He had gone darkside and wasn't afraid to twist innocent spirits into soul sucking demons. But so what? She had faced worse and lived to tell the tale. Just because this time the enemy had a familiar face it didn't mean she couldn't stop this nonsense. He was also a spoiled brat bastard doing something simply because he _could_ and because he knew he shouldn't. And if she didn't stop him them a lot of people were going to get hurt. And for what felt like the first time ever it wouldn't be a sea of faceless innocents. This time there was someone to fight for.

Cat skidded to a halt, breathing hard and fast. Tara. Tara who depended on her to find Willow and the rest of her friends, to make things right again. Who had been brought back to life in the strangest of ways, confused and scared and still agreed to aid her saviour in a fight she didn't really have a part in. Tara who was her friend. Rigel wanted to end it all, to play a game with humanity for his amusement. She couldn't let that happen.

Her fist tightened around her katana's saya, the wood having grown slick beneath her sweaty palm. She let the rage build as the demons charged ever closer. Rigel's aura had disappeared, whether through distance or because he had reigned it in, she didn't know. What she did know was that she intended to show him he hadn't won. With a shout she drew her blade, letting go of her hold over her own aura. She knew it would be a beacon for any and all beasts lurking nearby but she didn't care. Just this once. The first demon shot into view and Cat charged, screaming like a banshee with her sword raised high.

* * *

><p>The pub was alive with the dinner time hustle and bustle, the bar filling up with patrons in for an evening drink. The Scoobies were gathered around a table for a late night dinner when Kennedy suddenly sat up straight as though she had been electrified.<p>

"Did you feel that?" She asked no one in particular, rubbing the back of her neck as the sudden energy spike in the distance made her spine tingle.

"It's nearby." Willow said, eyeing the goosebumps that had leaped up across her arms. Kennedy chucked her napkin onto the table and stood up.

"I'll go." She declared.

"But you're still-"

"I'm fine." She cut off Willow's protests. "Slayer healing." She did indeed look a lot better than she had.

"Buffy's on patrol, I'm sure she will look into it." Giles assured Kennedy, who shook her head irritably, already stepping away from her chair.

"She might need help." She said, fast growing tired of the fuss her injuries had created.

"Look but no touchy." Xander said firmly, wagging a finger at her. Kennedy rolled her eyes and turned to hurry across the bar and up the stairs to her room, collecting a long bladed knife from the hidden weaponry stash beneath the bed for just in case. Stuffing it into the back of her waistband and concealing it with a jacket she rushed out of the room and back down the stairs, leaving the pub to run across town towards whatever this magical energy beacon was. She charged through the streets, earning herself a few strange glances from the handful of people out walking places, but as she neared the area the tingle of magic suddenly shut off as though someone had flipped a switch. Kennedy slowed to a jog, and then a fast walk, confused, senses reaching out and finding nothing. She heard light footsteps, the scuff of leather soles against concrete, and a short skinny woman with wild dark hair turned the corner, glanced up a Kennedy and crossed the road. Kennedy felt her slayer-sense prickle but could discern nothing strange about the woman and put it down to her senses going into overdrive trying to pick up the strange energy once more. She made her way into the street the woman had just vacated and found nothing out of the ordinary at first glance. A dead street light caught her attention and she moved closer noticing a deep gash against the pole where something had sheered through the outer layer of metal, revealing torn wires within. All around it on the ground lay shattered glass from the light casing and vast piles of dust being born away on the wind. She scraped the toe of one boot through a small dust pile, resulting in a film of soft grey powder coating it. Further inspection revealed it to be ash. Like the kind staked vampires left behind, or…

Kennedy dashed back round the corner, dark eyes searching for that rocker chick, but the street was already empty. She turned as she heard someone running up behind her and came face to face with Buffy.

"Did you feel it?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, there's nothing here." Kennedy replied, folding her arms over her chest. "Now, anyway. Just dust. Could be vampires. And some weird girl. Did you see anyone? Anything?"

"Nada." Buffy shook her head.

"Well, there's definitely been a fight here." She led Buffy over to the damaged streetlight, motioning to the slashed metal, the dust and the glass.

"I'll check this out. You head back and fill the guys in." Buffy said. "It might be nothing…" They shared a look, each suspecting that this may be something.

"Well. Be careful." Kennedy said, reaching behind herself and pulling out the knife she had brought along, which she handed over to Buffy who only had a couple of wooden stakes on her.

"Something comes up, I'll buzz you." Buffy promised. Kennedy nodded once, hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans and strode off.

Back at the pub she found the group almost exactly where she had left them, with drinks in place of food. Dawn perked up on seeing her.

"We bought you ice cream!" She announced. "But, um…then we ate it. 'cause it was melting." Kennedy raised an eyebrow.

"No problem." She said, taking the chair beside Willow again, who was attempting to discretely check her over for any new wounds. "I'm fine." Kennedy said without needing to look.

"I was just-I saw…something in your hair!" Willow insisted, picking imaginary lint from the slayer's hair. Kennedy raised an eyebrow at her, though leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"So, what was it?" Xander asked eagerly, before there was a (highly distracting) public display of affection. "Did ya kill it?"

"No." Kennedy replied, glancing around the group. "But _it_ killed something. And I think 'it' is shaped like a skinny chick in combat boots and a biker jacket. She just strolled right out of there and when she looked at me I got…I don't know, it set me on edge. She gave me the wiggins."

"The death god?" Giles suggested. Kennedy shrugged and shook her head.

"Maybe, I don't know. She didn't exactly strike me as death god material. Anyway, Buffy's checking it out. So…ice cream?" She gave a hopeful grin.

* * *

><p>Tara jumped up from her bed as she heard the room key scrape in the lock and then Cat entered with a plastic carrier bag in her free hand.<p>

"I was worried. You were gone so long…" She hurried forwards to help the reaper, who pocketed the keys and handed over her bag. "What happened?" Cat shook her head and ran a palm over her face, pushing passed Tara to cross the room and flick the switch on the kettle. Tara's gaze followed the reaper nervously, sensing something pretty big had occurred. Another ill-fated shopping trip. "Cat…?" She asked softly.

"I…" Cat heaved a heavy sigh, took a breath. "I bumped into an old friend." She said, tearing a sachet of instant coffee open and pouring it into her mug. "It didn't go well." She scrunched up the empty sachet and chucked it into the waste paper bin beneath the desk. "He tried to kill me."

"W-what?!" Tara stared across the room at her. She dropped the carrier bag onto her bed and started across the room towards Cat, who waved her back over to the bed and motioned for her to sit. "What happened?" Tara said, sitting cross legged on the end of her bed, ignoring the shopping for now.

"Before I even _got_ to the shop Rigel popped up from no where. We were friends from way back when. We both died and were called back as reapers." She paused as the kettle finished boiling water and picked it up to fill her mug. "I suppose you could say we were close." Tara bit her lower lip, sensing potential guy trouble. "Not like that." Cat caught her look while crossing the room to sit on the edge of her bed and rest her mug on one knee. "Let me…Put this in a way you might understand. Human dies (usually an untimely death courtesy of The Powers). Initiates latent reaper magic. Wakes up and is…kinda recruited by another reaper who acts as a Watcher-you know, like your friend Mr Giles…" Cat trailed off as Tara nodded in understanding. "Watcher-reaper then sends you off when they deem you ready and you just wander around and do your job, guided occasionally by The Powers, a bit like a Slayer. You mentioned prophecy dreams?" Tara nodded again. "It's like that. Just, you're totally on your own." She paused to sip at her coffee. "So Rigel woke the week before me and we were taught together. He was nice and happy then, eager to do the job. And we were friends. We didn't see each other after I was left in Sunnydale and he was sent to Los Angeles. Reapers don't really…have anyone. We're lone wolf kinda people."

"Slayers are meant to be like that." Tara said quietly. Cat smiled faintly and nodded.

"Turns out I didn't know him at all. Or maybe I did and the time spent being a reaper has twisted him, but…He's why we're here. He's going to open the Hellmouth. And I kind of ran away from him." She looked down at her coffee, completely ashamed. Tara blinked.

"You…Ran away?" She repeated uncertainly. Cat nodded, looking at the floor as though she wanted it to open up and swallow her.

"I was…I don't know. Scared and shocked and so, _so_ confused, and he suggested I join him in going mental and going against all we stand for. _He_ made the abominations."

"Cat, this is pretty big." Tara said gently, seeing the reaper's distress. "You can hardly be expected to know exactly what to do, to even think clearly."

"He's stronger than me, better than me. He made them right there in front of me, like _bam_ done! And I just stood there, then ran away."

"It's okay to be scared." Tara replied. "I'd be scared." Cat looked up at her, offering a smile in thanks. She stood up and drained the last of her coffee.

"You're very kind." She said, taking the mug into the bathroom to rinse it out. "Anyway, it won't happen again. I had like an epiphany type thing. I have to go now." She came back out into the room and returned her mug to its place beside the kettle.

"Go?" Tara stood up, surprised. "You just got back, aren't you going to eat?"

"I'll eat later. I'm just going to zoom around town real quick, see if I can pick up a trace of Rigel. If not I'll come back quick." She reached into the plastic bag and withdrew a Mars Bar, which she held up to show Tara. "I'll eat this on the way. Besides, I'd better see if I can find any spirits and send them on before twatface extraordinaire decides to make more abominations."

"Okay, well, um…be careful…" Tara said. Cat gave her a crooked smile and darted through the door, back out into the night.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wrote this in a storm :O Also, thanks for the follows and reviews ^^ Keep 'em coming, guys! Let me know what you're thinking etc :) **

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><p>The storm that had been threatening the town all day broke suddenly with an almighty crash seconds before the heavens opened and rain came down in torrents. Cat had been bone dry one second, and soaked through the next.<p>

"Grand." She muttered, tugging her hood up and zipping up her jacket, turning the collar up for some form of protection against rain that pounded down into the street and already had tarmac and concrete looking like a river. She gave up all ideas of locating Rigel then. He probably had the sense to hide away safe and warm from this downpour. White light forked across the sky and crackled down to earth followed swiftly by a deafening roll of thunder.

There was a flickering streetlight ahead, an old bunch of flowers tied to it, heads withered and swiftly being destroyed by the rain. Yellow petals were being hammered down onto the concrete pavement.

There was no point hanging around in this weather. She wasn't likely to get sick from it (in the years she had been a reaper Cat hadn't once grown ill) but it was making her irritable. She was about to turn and head back to the hotel when she felt the presence approaching from behind, apprehensive, lost, confused. She halted in the road, waiting for it to come closer, felt it solidify. The spirit of a young man. Was he the reason for those wilted flowers?

"Save me." The whisper barely reached her ears over the sound of the storm. While used to such communications she still felt icy fingers crawling up her spine. Her scalp prickled. He was right behind her.

"As you wish." She replied, summoning her blade.

* * *

><p>Buffy had on her a wooden stake and a long bladed knife, which was great, but she didn't actually have any use for them because apparently the things that she hunted were smarter than her and were hiding away from the rain and the wind and the roiling sky. What she really needed was a bit more than a thin cotton jacket to protect her against the elements. But then it was her own fault. Storm clouds had been gathering all day and she had chosen to ignore them.<p>

She hurried across the road, head down against the driving rain, trying to get back to the pub before she came down with a chill or flu or something stupid when suddenly her slayer sense pinged. Her head snapped up. Something around the corner. Something decidedly paranormal. She reached for the stake and the knife and raced down the road, turning just in time to see a young woman slash a samurai sword through the kneeling form of a strangely glowing young man. There was a blinding flash, a burst of energy, and then nothing. Buffy skidded to a halt in shock. The man was gone.

"Death god…" She breathed. It had to be. That quiet word got the attention of the death god and she turned. Buffy didn't give her the chance to register what was happening. She barreled forwards, stake held high, knife low and ready to gut her enemy.

Cat barely had time to block the stake with her saya, and turn aside the knife with her sword. She had never seen a human with such strength and agility. She completely misjudged the power behind the petite blonde's attack and was driven backwards, narrowly escaping injury. Before she could recover the woman was on her again, lashing out with a low kick, then lunging forwards and up as Cat leaped back. The reaper once again narrowly escaped. She felt the knife skim her front, and tipper her head back and to the side to avoid her chin being impaled. Cold steel burned against her cheek as it opened a wound from jaw to cheek bone and she rammed the pommel of her sword into the woman's ribs, leaping back once more to create some kind of distance between them.

The woman charged again, but this time Cat was ready. She knew she wasn't dealing with a regular human. This woman had the essence of something…old and primal within her. Some mystical energy. She wasn't sure what, but it gave her preternatural strength and speed. As her enemy feinted with the stake and struck with the knife, Cat twisted aside and lashed out with the heavy wooden sheath in her left hand.

Buffy felt an explosion of pain in the side of her head and saw stars. She was dimly aware of the fact that she was flying backwards, and then crashed into the tarmac. She landed heavily on one shoulder and heard the wooden stake skittering away. There was a loud clatter somewhere ahead of her. Before her enemy could rush in and deliver a death blow Buffy rocked back on her shoulders, then in one smooth motion threw her weight forwards, landing upright on her feet, ready to fight. Instead she found the death god stood several meters ahead of her, wooden scabbard cast aside waiting for her.

Cat knew this wasn't someone she wanted to kill or even hurt. This was someone she needed to reason with, this…whatever she was. She had felt that strange aura earlier in the dark haired woman, but it wasn't something she was familiar with.

As the petite blonde recovered from the stunning blow to her head Cat had cast aside her scabbard to even things up a bit. She dropped into a fighting stance with both hands on her sword hilt (she had no plans to fight such a skilled opponent completely unarmed) as the woman flipped onto her feet and registered momentary surprise that she wasn't being attacked.

"I'm not gonna hit you while you're down." Cat explained. The blonde eyed her suspiciously and crouched to retrieve her stake, eyes never leaving Cat's face.

"Well, isn't that noble?" She shot back. American. Like Rigel and Tara. "You still destroyed that guy!"

"Wait, what?!" Cat cried, then leaped into action as she was attacked once more. The woman closed the gap between them with startling speed. Cat reversed her grip on her sword, aiming to slam the pommel into this woman's head and lay her out cold, but the move was somehow anticipated.

Buffy curved her arm inside the attack and knocked it wayward, stepping inside Cat's guard to deliver her own blow. Instead she found her knife-wielding hand caught in an iron grip. She dropped her stake before the shorter woman could twist her sword around and grabbed her wrist, locking them together.

"Who are you?" Cat demanded as she found this woman's strength matched her own. It unnerved her to feel such a powerful presence and not know what it was.

"I'm Buffy." The woman replied, her tone taunting. "The vampire slayer. And you are?" Cat felt as though someone had just yanked a rug out from beneath her feet. Buffy?! Tara's friend Buffy? The slayer? That explained the weird aura and the crazy power.

"Gone." Cat summoned what little magic she could muster and used it to force Buffy backwards. For the second time that night she turned and ran, vaulting over a parked car and scaling the side of a house and dashing across the roof so Buffy couldn't (she hoped) follow. She leaped the gap onto the next roof and skidded on the slick roofing tiles, sliding behind the chimney. If Buffy was here surely the rest of the Scooby Gang was too? Xander and Giles and Dawn. And Willow. She discarded her sword, letting it fade from sight, then twisted round to peek out from behind the chimney stack she was hiding behind.

Buffy regained her balance and stared after the fleeing death god, then down at the wooden scabbard the woman had left on the ground when that suddenly ceased to exist. It simply popped out of existence.

"Well." She said. "That was incredibly weird." Night became day as a brilliant flash of lightning preceded a deafening boom of thunder, reminding Buffy that she really needed to get back to her room and get dry. And mention she had sort of located the death god.

She ducked her head down and began the jog back through the storm, wondering why the death god had reacted with such…shock to her name. It had definitely been recognized. Why? Buffy's name had no reason to be recognized in places so far afield as England. Did it?

Head down and thoughts clouded she didn't see the dark figure peel away from beside a chimney stack, shadowing her from above.

* * *

><p>Shortly after starting her stalking Cat dropped from the roof of a house and landed silently in the front garden, darting from cover to cover after the slayer and hoping against hope Buffy would lead her to wherever she was staying. This had to be <em>the<em> Buffy Summers right? Of course, how many slayers could there be named Buffy?! And if Buffy was here were her friends here too? If they were then that meant she had found Willow. Which was a good thing. Fantastic for Tara. So then why did she have such a sickening feeling in her gut?

She had no time to dwell on that as she saw Buffy cut across the street and enter a pub. She waited a moment to make sure the slayer wouldn't just leave, then made her way over the road and through the car park, empty save for a single car which she crouched beside while surveying the pubs front. Double wooden doors with glass panes opened straight onto the bar and either side large windows offered views of the standard cosy pub interior. It looked pretty empty inside, probably last orders had already been called. She spied Buffy heading towards a table occupied by a group of people and shifted position to get a better look, hoping no one chose to look outside.

The slayer dropped into a chair at the table. Cat counted five others there with her. The redhead matched Tara's description of Willow she realized with a jolt. There was a dark haired woman sat beside Potential Willow who she recognized from earlier that day but wasn't too sure of who she was. A young raven haired girl was there. Dawn? Maybe. She sat beside a dark haired man who could have been Xander but Tara had never mentioned him wearing an eye patch so then again maybe not. The man with glasses would be Mr Giles. She couldn't see the other person Tara had told her about, Anya, but maybe she was elsewhere in the pub, or maybe she hadn't come to England. This _had_ to be the so called Scooby Gang.

"Bloody Hell, I found you." She murmured. She had to tell Tara. But first she wanted some hard evidence. Despite knowing The Powers That Be had a plan for nearly everything Cat was still a believer in coincidence. Maybe that slayer was Buffy Summers but what if that redheaded woman wasn't Willow and she went running back and told Tara she had located her lover? Willow Rosenberg wasn't the only redhead in the world. Cat pulled away from her hiding place and dashed across the car park, following it as it circled the building. She couldn't enter through the bar.

* * *

><p>"…and I told her my name and she freaked!" Buffy finished. "She climbed a <em>house<em>."

"Ooh, maybe you're famous!" Willow grinned at her best friend. Giles was frowning at the table, polishing his glasses with the edge of his jumper.

"Buffy, I think she might have been performing the ritual to send on a spirit." He admitted, scrutinizing the lenses to make sure they were smear-free and then putting his glasses back on. "Perhaps talking would have been a better approach?"

"It looked like she was killing him!" Buffy insisted, pouting ever so slightly. Across the bar the side door opened but no one entered through the bar door. Dawn slurped the last of her coke through her straw looking at Buffy innocently as the slayer glared across the table at the noise.

"We don't really know what we're dealing with…" Giles began.

"I know we're dealing with someone that turns people into monsters." Kennedy interrupted him sharply. "We should get back out there and find her!"

"Oh, sure, if you wanna take on the Princess of Persia then be my guest!" Buffy said.

"Kennedy, sweetie, I don't think that'll help…" Willow said gently.

* * *

><p>There was a side entrance outside the pub that opened onto the stairs that lead up onto the first floor to the accommodation, with a second door opposite that opened onto the bar. Cat took this way and padded on silent feet unnoticed upwards, to a carpet-lined hallway with wooden doors spaced at regular intervals. The rooms must have been relatively small, but then the building was pretty big so maybe not. Up here the sense of magic was strong, tingling along her spine, and she followed it along the corridor to a room that felt thick with it. She had to know why they were here. It had to be for some definite purpose. Just like Tara and herself. Was it for the same reason? Or coincidence?<p>

All around her she felt the energy she had come to identify as slayer power, and a Wiccan's magic. The buzz of the arcane. Senses alert for signs of anyone approaching, Cat reached down and closed a hand over the door knob, tried to turn it. Locked. Of course.

"_Patefacio_." She breathed, and the lock clicked open. Cat edged inside, closed the door softly behind her. On turning she cocked her head in mild confusion at being faced by a neat room with a double bed in the middle. Judging by the clothes, make up and perfume on show this was a room shared by two women. The sense of magic from here was strong, slayer and Wiccan. A tickle of apprehension niggled at the back of her mind but she ignored it and began to slowly circulate the room. On the dresser amongst deodorant and body spray lay a large wooden cross and a…was that a crossbow bolt? Cat frowned and moved on. Stepping over heavy boots that had been dumped beside the bed she made her way over to one of the bedside tables. On top was a stack of old musty smelling books with various strange titles (_Spells and Enchantments: Book 1, The Daemonic Encyclopaedia: A-K, The Truth Behind World Mythologies_).

"Nothing like a bit of light reading before bed…" She murmured, and opened the top drawer of the table. Rifling through she found an envelope of spare cash in pounds sterling and US dollars, travel insurance, receipts, and…_ooh, passports_! In the plural. She picked up one and flicked it open, leafing through to the page with the electronic chip and personal information and was greeted with the usual embarrassing photograph. This one was of the pretty redhead from downstairs. "Hello, Willow." She murmured. She paused as the niggling in the back of her mind hollered for attention. "…Who's your friend…?" She put down Willow's passport, picked up the other and opened it, raised one eyebrow. "Oh. It's you." Kennedy. The stranger. Tara had never mentioned her. Kennedy who was sharing a room with Willow. She glanced back at the bed. The double bed. "Oh, bollocks." Maybe all the twin rooms were taken and this was all that had been left…?

The door onto the stairway opened and closed and soft footsteps approached. Time to go! Cat shoved the passports back into the drawer, pushed it closed and quickly left the room. She was halfway along the corridor when none other than Willow Rosenberg herself appeared at the top of the stairs and made her way towards Cat. The reaper kept her eyes focussed on the carpet as though lost in her own little world, hands jammed into her hoodie pockets. She didn't want to give any hint that she recognized the redhead.

But the corridor was narrow and as they passed their arms brushed. There was no disguising the crackle of energy between them as reaper magic met Willow's own personal brand.

Willow felt the fine hairs along her arms and at the back of her neck prickle at the touch, like a spark of static energy. She jerked away and stared at the young woman (she was absolutely soaked, obviously just gotten out of the storm), who merely glanced back and quirked an eyebrow, then continued along the corridor and out of sight down the stairs. Willow turned and started back on her path to the room she shared with Kennedy. And stopped dead in her tracks. Short, skinny, leather jacket, crazy hair, eyebrow bar… Willow gasped and spun round, charging headlong back along the corridor and down the stairs.

"She's here!" She cried as she barged through the doorway at the bottom of the stairs and into the bar where the rest of the gang still sat at the usual table. "The reaper!" The few patrons still drinking at the bar all turned to stare at her, but Willow ignored them, instead rushing to the Scoobies.

"What do you mean she's here?!" Xander yelped.

"What do you think I mean, Xander?" Willow said, exasperated. Buffy and Kennedy were on their feet.

"Weapons. Now." Buffy said.

* * *

><p>Outside the pub Cat casually crossed the darkened car park, raising her hood against the rain once more. She walked when she would rather be running, but didn't want to draw attention to herself as she moved round to the front of the building which was annoyingly well lit. Risking a glance through the pub's windows she noticed the Scoobies had vacated their table. She heaved a sigh and crossed the road. This should have been a joyous occasion. She had located Tara's friends, she had found Willow. But how could she tell Tara that? '<em>Oh, hey, yeah, I found Willow but she's boinking someone else<em>.' Or maybe they weren't an item. Maybe Willow and Kennedy were simply sharing because there were no other options. A girl could hope. She couldn't tell Tara. But should she really keep this from her? She couldn't help feel a little relieved that keeping quiet until further information could clear things up would be best. And then she felt guilty.

"HEY! Death god!" Cat spun round at the shout, and her grey eyes widened as she saw the Scoobies bowling across the pub car park towards her, pulling out various concealed weapons.

"Ah, crap…" She muttered, turning and sprinting across the road and down a darkened alley way. Cracked and broken paving slabs tried to trip her up as she sprinted through the alley. She burst out onto a lighted street and turned right without stopping to think.

She couldn't help feeling that Tara's friends really didn't like her.

* * *

><p>Tara sat in front of the dressing table running a brush through her hair. She had changed into pyjamas (red and black checked trousers, plain black vest top, bought for her by Cat as Tara was severely lacking in the clothes department) and was just about ready for bed. She jumped as a flicker of movement caught her eye, reflected in the mirror. She dropped her hair brush onto the table with a clatter and twisted out of the chair and onto her feet, staring across the room to find the door wide open but nobody there. The wind was blowing the pounding rain through the doorway, wetting the carpet.<p>

"C-Cat…?" She called nervously. No answer.

"Boo." Tara yelped and leaped away from the voice, spinning round and staring up at a tall, blond, and incredibly smug young man.

"Wha-who-h-how…?!" She stammered, backing away from him and stumbling into the wardrobe. Her heart thundered in her chest and her hands trembled as adrenaline flooded through her.

"Reaper, Rigel, magic." The man answered with a grin. It took Tara a couple of seconds to realize he had answered her stuttered questions.

"R-R-Rigel?" Tara asked.

"Y-y-yeah." He replied with a sneer. "Wow, if you're the one The Powers want to foil my dastardly plans then I'm seriously insulted!" He huffed and folded his arms over his chest. Tara wasn't too sure what to say to that and so ducked her head.

"W-why are you…h-here?" Tara asked, cursing the stutter brought on by stress. She glanced up at him. The look in his eyes made her wish she hadn't asked. A slow smirk spread across Rigel's face.

"I'm here to do my favourite thing." He said. "To wind up Kitty Cat." Tara swallowed hard as she felt him let go, felt his aura fill the room, a beacon to all sensitive to magic.

_Uh oh_…

* * *

><p>Cat sprinted through the streets, twisting and turning and back tracking in the hope of losing the Scoobies. While most of the gang was trailing behind the slayers were hot on her heels. Ahead of her across a wide road she spied a row of shops, the last of which had a driveway presumably leading onto a loading bay at the back of the buildings. The driveway was barred by two high chain link gates chained and padlocked shut. Jumping that could gain her a few precious seconds and so she charged across the road towards it. A screeching of tires and blaring of a car horn announced the arrival of an oncoming vehicle. Cat jumped, landing on the bonnet of a van, and without breaking stride raced across the roof and used the van as a boost to leap the gates. She hit the ground running and didn't look back.<p>

Buffy and Kennedy skirted the van and leaped the gates just seconds after Cat, having left the rest of the group behind a few streets back.

* * *

><p>"Well, she's certainly fit." Giles gasped, slowing his jog to a walk. They had been hoping to pick up the trail but had no such luck.<p>

"Which one?" Dawn groaned, clutching at a stitch in her side. Giles had meant the death god but had to nod.

"All three of them, I suppose." He admitted, taking off his glasses to pointlessly wipe away the rain water that had gathered on the lenses. He squinted up at the sky, wondering why he hadn't grabbed his rain coat as well as a weapon.

"Just think of it as working off dinner." Xander grinned at them and rubbed his stomach.

"Um, guys…" Willow said, clearly uneasy, as she picked up the sense of something dark and dangerous nearby just seconds before the others felt it, followed closely by a sudden explosion of magical energy in the distance. It throbbed like a beacon. The group had only moments to marvel at the intensity of the feeling before a demonic screech announced the approach of several horrific somethings nearby. One of them lurched into view at the end of the street, eyes burning from a face mottled black.

"Is that…?" Dawn started cautiously, tightening her grip on the short sword she had taken from Buffy's weapon stash.

"An abomination." Giles confirmed.

"I think it brought friends…" Willow said nervously. These things had almost bested Kennedy. That reminded her… "Don't let them touch you!"

"The thought had occurred to me." Xander said sarcastically, raising the small hand axe he wielded as another demon emerged from the shadows. "Sneaky little death god. Divide and conquer, bring in your buddies. Oh yay."

More demons peeled away from the shadows and approached. The group was surrounded.


	8. Chapter 7

Cat could feel Rigel's aura, and went cold as she realized which direction it was coming from. Tara. Tara was in danger. That knowledge gave her an extra burst of speed and she raced across the loading bay towards the building it backed onto and threw herself at the drainpipe running from ground to gutter, climbing it in a shower of rust and redbrick dust and hauling herself up onto the slate roof. She ran across the building and dropped down onto the ground on the other side, ignoring the pain in her ankles as the bones jarred from impact on a concrete parking lot. It was bordered by a low brick wall, and she ran forwards as fast as she could, leaping the wall and running into the road, as though her life depended on it. And then she felt the demons. Cat skidded to a halt, looking in the direction of Rigel's energy, of Tara, then back the way she had come. The demons had to be attacking her pursuers. She heard the two slayers break off their chase to help their friends. Cat was torn. They would need help. She faltered, then put her back to Tara's friends and raced off in the direction of Rigel.

* * *

><p>Tara knew that her best bet to stay alive mainly stemmed from her ability to keep Rigel talking, and hope Cat turned up soon to rescue her. She had only a vague notion of Rigel's power, but had enough of an idea to know she was royally screwed right now unless she could keep him distracted. Luckily it seemed Rigel was in no hurry to attack Tara, and was more than happy to taunt her.<p>

"You know Cat will stop you?" She said, trying to sound determined despite feeling so helpless. "With, um…My help." She didn't know how she was supposed to help, but hopefully Rigel didn't know that. However, he started to laugh. So maybe he did know that...

"Oh…" He cleared his throat and tried to keep a straight face. "Sorry, I thought you were joking." Tara pressed her shoulders back into the hard wood of the wardrobe behind her. This guy had pretty much just summoned a reaper by revealing his presence, who would probably turn violent on arrival, he had angered The Powers That Be and he just didn't seem to care. It unnerved her. She felt her heart racing in her chest. Her hands trembled. She balled her fists to stop that and tried to think of a way of escaping, came up empty.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked suddenly. "Taunting Cat. Opening the…Hellmouth." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Do I really need a reason?" He asked. Tara swallowed hard. In a word: yes. She had been hoping he would give her some long waffley response on a deep seated issue he had that would in turn prolong her survival. As it was she felt her second death creeping ever closer and here she was clutching at a wardrobe instead of fighting for her life.

"Well, um…Most people would have a r-reason." She replied, blue eyes drawn to his hands as he stepped towards her and summoned his blade.

"Yeah. Well. I'm not most people, am I?" He said, drawing the weapon and tossing aside the sheath. Tara flinched as it hit the wall with a bang and dropped to the floor with a thud muffled by carpet. "Ah, don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." He said. Then smirked. "Yet, anyway." Tara tipped her head back as far as she could as she felt cold steel bite beneath her chin. He pressed the sword point deeper, pricking her skin. She closed her eyes, marvelling that her final thoughts seemed to be 'I don't want to die in my pyjamas' rather than something profound. "I want to play a g-"

Tara felt a rush of air, a burning at her throat as the pressure from Rigel's sword was removed. She stared around herself wildly in time to see a tangled mass of limbs crash to the ground across the room.

"You keep your filthy hands to yourself!" Cat shouted, pulling back one arm to strike Rigel, who was flat on his back beneath her. Before her fist could fall she was blasted backwards by some kind of invisible force, flying through the (thankfully still open) door of the hotel room and outside into the middle of the car park. She landed with a sickening thud and rolled several times from the momentum before finally coming to rest on her front. She stayed down, only able to groan as her dazed brain struggled to get her limbs into motion.

Rigel cleared the distance between them in the blink of an eye, literally streaking across the room in a blur of black and white.

Tara raced through the doorway after them, system flooded with adrenaline and having no clue what to do. She saw a flash of silver as Rigel brought his sword down on the prone reaper. Before she could cry out a warning Cat had rolled away and the blade crashed down onto tarmac, sending up a shower of dust and chipped grit. Again and again the blade hammered down until she managed to summon her own sword, twisting it across her body just in time to block another strike. She lashed out with one foot, kicking Rigel back and creating enough distance between them for her to leap to her feet and draw her katana. She dropped her sheath to place both hands on the sword hilt.

"So." Rigel said, backing off now that he had lost his brief advantage. "I see you chose to run across town to rescue Tara from little old me and left the poor innocent humans to fend for themselves not one street from you." He held up his forefinger to emphasise the point. Cat narrowed her eyes angrily. "Hope my demons weren't too hungry." He smirked at Cat as she began to circle him, the tip of her sword trained on his throat.

"They're hardly innocent." She shot back. Two fully trained slayers, a Wiccan that had tried to destroy the world, and an ex Watcher that had been pretty hands on in the good fight. She liked their chances, but admittedly she was worried. She wanted to get back to them. Rigel matched her pace as moved around him, waiting for an opening though his stance was relaxed.

"Still. That was very bad. Naughty Kitty." He lunged forwards, swiping upwards with one hand lightning fast. Cat blocked with her sword, pushing his strike wide and followed with her own attack.

Tara winced with each crash as the blades came together, desperately praying that no staff or resident of the hotel would look outside to see what all the noise was about. There was no way they could explain this. Hopefully the torrential rain would muffle the sound... She stood there watching the reapers fight feeling incredibly useless. She wasn't a violent person. She hated violence. But no matter what it seemed to follow her. Her hands balled into fists at her sides.

Besides, what could she do? Waltz into the middle of a sword fight and flail at Rigel? No. That would surely get her killed. And her magic seemed to be out of the question. Even if she could think of something she didn't have the time or the materials to prep for a helpful spell. She could blast fire or something, but then risked hitting Cat. Who was losing more ground than she was gaining. Rigel was using his strength and weight to his advantage, wearing her down.

The time to act was now.

"You seem a little preoccupied, Cat." Rigel taunted as he relentlessly hacked and slashed at her and Cat did all she could to turn aside his blade, her own growing heavier with each parry. And he was right. She could feel his demons in the distance, with the ever so slight flare of magic every now and then from a certain redheaded Wiccan. The fight between Tara's friends and Rigel's creations. While Tara had to be kept safe at all costs if she were to keep the Hellmouth closed, she should have done something to at least help those people. Sure, there were the two slayers and a powerful Wiccan in that group, and the Watcher, but there was also a guy with one eye, and a girl younger than herself, and the watcher wasn't exactly young. They would probably need protecting as the others tried to fight off demons while simultaneously keeping an eye on their friends. "Not keeping you from anything, am I?"

"Less talk. More dead." Cat spat, turning aside his slash with a double handed counter, throwing all of her weight behind it. As his sword arm went wide Rigel smashed his fist beneath Cat's chin. Her head snapped back and her teeth crashed together, stunning her and bringing her to her knees, weapon slipping from her hands. She looked up in a daze to see Rigel driving his sword point down towards her chest, one hand wrapped around the handle, the other pressed against the pommel. She scrabbled for her own weapon while diving sideways, knowing she wouldn't be fast enough.

Rigel jerked around as an invisible force tore his blade from his hands and sent it skittering away across the car park. He looked from his weapon, over to Tara, still stood just outside her hotel room and now wilting under the fury in his eyes.

"Was that you?!" He demanded, starting forwards. Tara backed off quickly. Cat leaped to her feet behind Rigel and charged, sword raised.

"Uh, maybe." She stammered, sending another surge of magic down to her hands. Before she could use it Rigel spun himself out of Cat's path and blasted her from behind with the same magic Tara had used. Cat's momentum coupled with the spell carried her forwards and she crashed into Tara, knocking them both back through the doorway into their room. They landed in a groaning heap on the floor.

Cat rolled off Tara and sat up, gripping the door frame and using that to haul herself to her feet. She felt dizziness threaten to overtake her and thrust out her free hand to the other side of the frame, holding herself in the doorway and peering outside.

"He's gone." She said, stepping back inside and sitting with her back to the wall. She closed her eyes and waited for the world to stop rocking, taking stock of her injuries. Major ache in her shoulders, tired muscles, cuts and bruises, massive throbbing in the head. Not too bad. She opened one eye as she heard Tara sit up. "Hey, you're bleeding..." She said, crawling towards her friend.

"It's just a scratch." Tara replied, rubbing at the cut beneath her chin from Rigel's sword point. It burned and when she pulled away her hand her fingers were bloody. "You're worse." She eyed a nasty scrape across the reaper's cheek, probably received from being launched through the door the first time.

"How do you feel?" Cat asked, waving off Tara's concern and sitting back on her heels to watch her carefully.

"Kind of like I just got b-beaten up." Tara cracked a crooked smile. The scratch under her chin was actually quite sore now her body wasn't going into survival mode, and having Cat thrown at her had hurt a lot. On the way down she had hit her head on the floor and could feel a lump rising. "But I'm fine." The adrenaline was wearing off.

Cat was quiet a moment, watching her to make sure she really was all right.

"Right, okay." She said eventually, patted Tara's knee and stood up. "Clean up that cut. I've gotta...I've gotta ward this place against him or something." She closed the door and locked it, pulled the chain lock across, then drew the curtains closed over the single window beside the door, strode over to the bathroom and looked around. Small window, high up opposite the sink. "Can't get in there." She muttered, coming back out into the main room.

"If you ward the room against him, then...doesn't that mean you ward it against, um...yourself?" Tara asked, frowning slightly. Cat deflated somewhat.

"Yes..." She admitted. "But...What if he comes back? Screw that, he will come back, I know it!" Tara passed her to enter the bathroom and clean up her throat. Blood had trickled from the scratch and dried in a line of red down the middle of her neck.

"Well, what if we hid my aura?" She suggested. She remembered a spell that did that. "It'd only work if I stay in here but that's better than nothing, right?" It wouldn't stop Rigel attacking her if he felt like it, but surely the thought of doing something would make Cat feel better? She glanced through the doorway at the reaper, who began to nod eagerly.

"Yes. Definitley, yes!" She said. "I'll go grab some stuff to do it right now. There's got to be an open-all-night place 'round here somewhere." She summoned her sword to her from where she had dropped it while being chucked at Tara.

"It can wait until the morning." Tara told Cat, turning to face her. She dabbed at the cut on her neck with some tissue, wincing slightly, then checked the tissue was clean and chucked it in the toilet. Cat was shaking her head, moving towards Tara.

"No." She replied. "I have to go now. I have to check on those people." Tara flushed the toilet, momentarily confused until she remembered Rigel mentioning Cat had left a group of people to fight off his demons.

"You shouldn't have come for me." She said softly, guilt settling in her chest. They were probably dead and it was because of her. Because their saviour had run to her instead.

"I had to." Cat said, pushing her sword into Tara's hands. "You're too important to die." She glanced away awkwardly. "And you're my friend." She raised her eyes briefly to Tara's, then turned her back and strode back towards the door. "Lock the door after me, stay out of sight, and if he comes back I will be here before he lays a finger on you." She said, unlocking the door and stepping outside. "I won't be long." And then she was gone. Again.

Tara looked down at the weapon in her hands, encased back in its black wooden saya. Rigel's sword had scarred the lacquer, baring pale wood beneath. She brushed her thumb against the mark.

Too important to die? That meant nothing in this world.

* * *

><p>"Willow, look out!" Dawn cried, pointing behind the redhead. Willow started to turn, hearing the demon behind her snarl. Kennedy grabbed her and dragged her out of harm's way, plunging her knife into the creature's rib cage, shoving it backwards and releasing her weapon. The beast erupted in a cloud of ash and the knife clattered onto the ground.<p>

"You okay?" Kennedy asked worriedly. Willow nodded, breathing hard after the fight.

"Aha."

"That's all of them." Buffy called from across the street and the group relaxed instantly. At the same moment the magical aura across town snapped off. Xander pointed vaguely in the direction it had been coming from, shouldering his axe.

"We have foiled your plan!" He announced.

"I don't think that was her." Willow said, drawing the attention of the group.

"What do you mean it wasn't her?" Kennedy demanded. "We were chasing her, she called her buddies to get us off her back! You're lucky me and Buffy got here when we did."

"You were only down the road." Willow pointed out, and, before Kennedy could respond, quickly followed up with her reasoning. "I don't think that aura was to do with her. And the signature didn't feel right on the demons." She said, drawing more than a few blank looks. "The demons are made using a spell to change a spirit into one of them, right?" She looked to Giles, and he nodded slowly, understanding dawning.

"Yes, of course." He agreed, and gestured for her to continue for the benefit of the others.

"Well, when you cast a spell you sort of leave a trace of yourself in it, kind of like a magical signature. I'm pretty sure that woman didn't make those demons. I've felt her magic."

"Excuse me?" Kennedy arched an eyebrow at her, though her expression was playful. Willow rolled her eyes.

"So..." Dawn said slowly. "Does that mean there are two death gods...?" She looked around at the rest of the group worriedly.

"Yes." Willow said, suspecting the aura they had been able to feel belonged to a second death god. "Maybe. But maybe that lady is here to help."

"Well, she'll love us then." Xander remarked drily.

"It's not our fault if she's all suspicious." Willow protested. "And just because she possibly didn't make the demons doesn't mean she's _definitely_ here to help. And, hey, I think I saw a spell in one of the books we can use to figure that out!"

"Great. Now can we get out of this rain?" Buffy grumbled.

* * *

><p>Cat's sword felt heavy resting across Tara's knees as she sat cross legged on her bed reading. She supposed a weapon should feel heavy really. Inflicting damage, cutting life short, should be a burden no matter the reason for needing to do such things. Most especially if they were meant with evil intentions, such as pretty much everything Rigel did. Though he didn't seem fazed by the weight of his sword. And neither did Cat really. So maybe Tara was just weak. She closed her book (a thriller she had bought at the airport before coming to England) and put it aside to place her hands over Cat's weapon and lift it from her knees. She felt the weight, then shifted one hand over to the hilt, closed her fingers around the grip and tugged gently. The blade slid free several inches, well oiled.<p>

Cold steel shimmered beneath the bright light of Tara's reading lamp, gleaming from the blade's razor sharp single edge. She shuddered and shoved the blade back, dropped the weapon onto her bed. It left her fingers tingling somewhat from the sense of magic the weapon gave off.

She sighed and leaned back against the wall behind her. She wasn't a fighter. Her father had seen to that.

Three sharp raps on the door snapped her attention back to the rest of the world and she sat bolt upright, reaching again for Cat's blade. She swung her legs off the bed and crept over to the door to peer through the peep hole. Spying Cat huddled beneath the overhang of their roof out of the rain she hurriedly unlocked the door and let the reaper inside.

"Ugh, thanks. All okay?" Cat asked, stripping off her coat and hoody and hanging them over the radiator beside the door to dry.

"All okay." Tara confirmed, closing the door and drawing the chain lock across it again. She held out the sword. Cat took it back and the thing vanished from sight. "So...Those people...?" Tara questioned cautiously.

"Demons dead, people fine." Cat assured her. "And I will get the stuff for the spell in the morning. I didn't want to be gone too long. Just in case." Tara gave her a lopsided smile and a nod.

"Sure. Thanks." She replied. Cat nodded once and crossed the room to go into the bathroom for a towel to dry her hair. Tara folded her arms over her chest and watched her, making her way slowly towards her bed.

"And after that I'll teach you how to fight. We can't have this happening again!" The reaper called.

"Oh..." Tara said. Great. "Um...Sure." If it would make Cat feel better. She sighed and sat on the edge of her bed, picked up her book and resumed reading. Looking back on the past few days perhaps learning how to defend herself would be a good idea.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Early update as requested by the lovely Ida. Happy Birthday ;)**

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><p>Tara had been fast asleep dreaming of brilliant green eyes and fiery red hair when she found herself suddenly awake and blinking in bright sunlight. Daylight streamed into the room through a crack in the curtains, slanting across her bed. Dust motes swirled in the light, flaring gold. She heard birdsong faintly through the closed window and wondered briefly if that had been what had awakened her so suddenly.<p>

The lock on the door rattled suddenly and she flew out of bed. That was why she was awake. Someone was trying to get into the room. She glanced behind herself to see if Cat was awake and found her bed empty, the covers made. Then the door opened and Cat strode in carrying a couple of plastic bags. She smiled when she saw Tara.

"Hey! You're up!" She cried happily, kicking the door shut behind herself as she made her way over to the desk across the room and dumped her bags, peering curiously at Tara as she passed. "You okay?" Tara nodded, stilling her nerves. She had thought Rigel was paying them a morning visit.

"Yeah, just a bit...jumpy, I guess. From last night." She reached up and rubbed the pad of her thumb beneath her neck. The scratch from Rigel's sword stung, and a rough scab had formed over it.

"Sorry, I just figured it's actually sunny out so I should go grab supplies." Cat said, rummaging in a plastic bag and withdrawing a blue box which she eagerly showed Tara. "Pop Tarts! The breakfast of champions! I hope you don't mind eating them cold 'cause, you know, no toaster! They taste great hot or cold, I think." She ripped open the box and tossed a foil wrapped rectangle at Tara, who caught it and watched in amusement as Cat whipped another out of the box, chucked the box onto the desk and tore open her sugary treat. "I figured we'd need a sugar boost if we're doin' that ward spell." She said around a mouthful of brown sugar, icing and pastry. Tara sat cross legged in the middle of her bed.

"Well, I don't think sugar really impacts magic..." She said with a lopsided grin as she opened her breakfast at a more sedate pace and nibbled on the corner.

"Got juice." Cat announced seconds before a small bottle of Tropicana was launched in Tara's direction. She was quick to catch it and giggled at the reaper, suspecting Cat had already eaten enough sugar for the day. "How are you, anyway?" Cat asked, starting on her second Pop Tart. Tara looked over at her and shrugged.

"Okay, I think." She said. The bump on the back of her head only hurt when she touched it, same as the cut underneath her chin, so she could almost forget about her injuries. She noticed the scrape on Cat's face was already looking better. Fast healing. Like a slayer.

"Last night was rough." Cat said, studying her half eaten breakfast as though it were the most interesting thing on Earth. Tara sensed something was wrong.

"Are you okay…?" This whole thing had to be hard on Cat. She was fighting someone she knew, fighting a friend.

"I'm fine." Cat replied, dumping her food on the desk and turning her back on Tara, busying herself with making tea.

Damn straight last night was rough. Tara's friends were here. More importantly Willow was here, and Cat needed to tell Tara. It had to be done. But what about Kennedy? That would break Tara's heart, she couldn't do that to her. No. Cat would have to keep the whole thing quiet until she could figure out what to do. Maybe wait for Kennedy to leave the scene? No, that could be years. By which time she could lose the trail.

She flicked the switch on the kettle, moving on autopilot as she unwrapped a teabag and dropped it into her mug, reached for a second and unwrapped that to put into Tara's mug. What if she told Tara about Willow and Kennedy and Tara left? She needed Tara. To close the Hellmouth. So right now it was in everyone's best interests to say nothing of Willow Rosenberg.

The switch on the kettle clicked back into the off position as it finished boiling, steam billowing upwards. Cat reached for the handle, lifted it and poured boiling water into their mugs, returned the kettle to its cradle. She didn't think she would ever be ready to tell Tara this, to crush her heart. And maybe her friends were better off this way too. It would severely screw up everyone's head to have a formerly dead friend rock up after so long.

Cat sighed, stirring milk into their tea. Things had been so much simpler when she was alone...

* * *

><p>"The door was locked and he still got into the room and behind me without me noticing." Tara said, helping Cat unwrap the five pillar candles she had purchased along with breakfast. "He said it was magic but I don't know if he meant it."<p>

"Yeah, he did." Cat said, bunching up the cellophane from their candles and chucking it in the bin beneath the desk. "Unlocking doors is simple. Getting in the way he did is harder. I can't really do it. I'd probably need a magic boost, like what you accidentally gave me the other day. It's not a spell, it's more channelling magic which is pretty tiring." She unrolled a spare blanket over the carpet so the maid wouldn't kick up a fuss about finding rock salt all over the floor. "But basically he just moved really fast using his magic. Impressive in sight, not so much in knowledge." She grinned at Tara, opening the box of rock salt she had bought.

"Oh..." Tara murmured, flattening out their blanket and moving away as Cat began to pour the salt in a wide circle. "So, if he can do that, why didn't he kill me?" Cat shook her head, pouring a handful of salt into a mug of water and placing that in the middle of their circle.

"Rigel is arrogant. He wants to play with us while he still has time. He wants us to feel like he's in control." Tara's eyes flicked to Cat's face as the reaper turned aside to put her box down. Rigel definitely had the upper hand. Cat caught her look and quirked an eyebrow. "He's not. We're still free to do as we please. He's just really good at playing hide and seek."

"I guess..." Tara said, placing five candles around the salt circle. Cat took a purple plastic lighter out of her carrier bag of goodies and lit the wicks, then sat inside the circle and motioned for Tara to copy.

"Now, magic's not really my strong point so fingers crossed." She said. Tara smiled kindly and sat cross legged opposite her.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Do you remember the chant?" Cat asked, and Tara nodded. "Okay. Here goes." She held out her hands and Tara laced their fingers. Cat felt her palms buzz with the contact, magic raising the hairs along her arms like static. She met Tara's gaze, marvelling at just how much the Wiccan's power had grown over the past few days. They began the chant together, speaking as one. The candles around them sputtered and flared in response. A moment later and the spell was complete. The sense of magic died in the air and the two women released hands.

"Um...Did it work?" Tara asked. Cat was watching her curiously, trying to focus her mind, to clear it and reach out for Tara. She then sighed and shook her head.

"I can still feel you." She said, shoulders slumping in defeat. She suddenly sat to attention, then leaped to her feet as a thought occurred to her. She dashed outside and closed the door, reaching out once more to sense Tara. And grinned as she felt nothing. Not even the faintest hint of magic. Tara opened the door, frowning at her. "It worked!" Cat cried.

"You can't feel me?" Tara asked, and the reaper gave her head a smug shake.

"Nope. Nada." She said. "Now that's taken care of, you get changed and we'll see about making you a fighter!" Tara looked down at herself. She was still dressed in her pyjamas.

"How are you going to do that?" She asked Cat warily, pulling away from the door and turning to get some clothes from the wardrobe. Cat closed the door and threw herself backwards onto her bed.

"No clue." She admitted, folding her arms behind her head and staring up at the ceiling. She heard Tara enter the bathroom to wash up and change her clothes. "I guess a good place to start would be to figure out your strengths and weaknesses?"

"Well, I think a major weakness would be that I, um...Hate violence." Tara called through the open door. "And I...don't have any strengths." Cat frowned at that.

"Everyone has strengths." She replied.

"Not life saving strengths." Came Tara's voice, muffled as she pulled on a T-shirt. She came back out of the bathroom pinning her hair up at the back of her head and shrugged. Cat eyed her up.

"You...Are a survivor." She said in a tone that suggested this statement held great weight. Tara simply looked at her blankly. "Trust me." Cat smiled at her and sat up. "I'll show you some hand to hand stuff. You'll figure out the rest if you ever need to." Tara highly doubted that but said nothing. This little exercise was to make Cat feel better about leaving Tara alone, to make her feel as though she were doing something to prepare her for what was to come.

* * *

><p>"So I don't think Xander likes your plan." Kennedy told Willow. She was sat cross legged on their bed watching her red haired lover perched on the chair in front of their dressing table with several open books before her, green eyes darting from page to page. She occasionally paused her reading to scribble into a notebook.<p>

The Plan to get a hold of the death god and find out if the abominations were hers without her attacking them had been related to the group over breakfast. Xander played a larger part in it than he would have liked but had agreed to go along with it.

"He doesn't have to like it." Willow replied without looking up from the passage she was currently reading. "He just has to run fast." Kennedy nodded, scratching at the cut across her knuckles, acquired in her fight with the demons a few nights passed. It was healing up nicely but it itched.

"Then I guess he'll be fine." She chuckled softly. "So long as he has his magic dust." Willow turned in her seat to shoot Kennedy a mildly irked look.

"It's a bit more than that, Kennedy..." She said, and the slayer raised her hands to placate her.

"I know, just playing." She said. "Are you nearly done? Do we have all the ingredients?" Willow picked up her notes and shook her head.

"I have most of the things here-"

"Still impressed with Giles for that. Do you think the Council had a big smuggling operation on the side?" Kennedy smirked, earning a grin from Willow.

"I don't know, I'm just glad they still have the influence to get the slaying goodies through customs." A little bit of paper from what remained of the Watchers Council and they had been able to get weapons, spell books, and various arcane items Giles and Willow deemed useful through the airports without any drama. "Anyway. The missing things are easy enough to get. The gunk for the soul trap will need to settle overnight, but we'll be good to go by tomorrow evening."

"Gunk?" Kennedy repeated, raising one eyebrow. "Sounds great. Wanna go shop for gunk ingredients now?"

"Yup!" Willow tore out the page she had been writing on in her notebook and hopped up. "Bring on the gunk shopping!"

* * *

><p>The hotel backed onto wide empty fields and farmland and in the distance sparse woodland. The road was screened on either side by high bushes and trees to give the illusion of undisturbed countryside, to cover up the eyesore of mankind's development. A mud trail circled the hotel where countless feet had beaten the grass into submission over the years and cigarette butts littered the ground. The grass was still wet from the storm but the sun had done its best to dry off the ground somewhat and so Tara deemed her shiny new red Converse appropriate footwear, though eyeing up Cat's clumpy boots she had to admit she was having second thoughts. Water squelched in the mud as the reaper walked away from the back of the building. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves.<p>

"Right!" Cat announced suddenly. Tara looked up to see she had halted, and turned to face the Wiccan with an excited grin. Tara stopped a couple of metres from her and folded her arms, chewing nervously at her lower lip. She didn't want to fight. Fighting wasn't her thing. She left that to everyone else. She was the one that figured stuff out then stood on the side-lines while her friends beat up the big bad. She hated violence.

"So, um…what's the plan?" She asked, blue eyes dropping back to the ground, then flicking back up to meet Cat's stormy gaze.

"We don't have to do this, you know?" The reaper said, looking worried. Tara took a deep breath and let it out, shaking her head and letting her arms fall to her sides.

"No, it's fine, I…it's a good idea. I think." She replied. "I'm just, you know, not so good with the whole…" she swung a couple of punches. Cat looked at her blankly.

"Swimming…?" She asked, cocking her head to one side. Tara's lips quirked into a half smile, remembering a similar conversation from so long ago.

"Violence." She corrected. Cat grinned at her, finding the smile infectious.

"Wow, okay, yeah, don't be doing it like that." She stood side on to Tara with her feet apart and staggered, left foot forwards, right back and heel up slightly. "Stand like this." She said. "This makes you a smaller target, and make sure your weight distribution is fifty-fifty so you can move fast and are harder to overbalance." Tara did so, bending her knees slightly as Cat did, following her teacher's motions until the reaper was happy with her feet positioning. "Right, now chin down, hands up. Elbows out a little…That's it." Cat grinned at Tara over her own fists. "Ready for a punch?"

"I don't think I'll be any good at that…" Tara mumbled. Just because she could stand right didn't mean she would be any good in a fight. And if Cat and others thought her punches looked like a swimming mime, well…

"Sure you will, it's easy!" Cat said. "Just throw your weight behind it. Twist your torso. Make sure your thumb's outside your fist, hand down a bit…" She showed Tara a slow motion punch. "Okay?" Tara nodded. Cat stood square in front of her and grinned. "Okay. Punch me." Tara's eyes widened.

"P-punch you?" She asked. Cat nodded and spread her arms.

"Like you mean it." She said.

"But I don't. Mean it." Tara replied.

"Okay then, do it because you can. Come on, I'm asking you!" Cat hopped up and down on the balls of her feet. "Show me watcha got!"

Tara swallowed hard. She knew Cat wouldn't stop asking until she was hit. And she seriously doubted she could even hurt the woman. It would probably hurt her more than Cat. And it wasn't like she was lashing out in spite. Cat was asking her from a teacher's perspective.

"Okay…" She mumbled eventually. And gave Cat's shoulder a pathetic nudge with her knuckles. Cat raised one eyebrow, looking less than impressed. Tara gave an exasperated sigh and stepped out of her fighting stance. "Cat, I don't want to hit you!" She protested.

"Aw, come on, Tara! I just want to see what you can do. It'll make me feel better knowing you can throw a punch if you need to." Cat insisted. Tara shot her a dark look.

"It won't make _me_ feel better." She said. Cat sensed she was broaching a no go topic and nodded slowly. "We'll just have to assume I can do it if I need to." She hoped she would never need to. But hope didn't always seem to pan out so well with Tara.

"Fair enough." Cat said, and cracked a grin. "Well maybe if it's a guy you should just knee him in the balls and if it's a girl kick her in the –"

"Okay!" Tara said quickly, and Cat smirked. "Show me something else."

"That's my girl!" Cat laughed, clapping her on the shoulder. The contact sent a shock of magic through her fingers that had the hairs along her arm standing to attention. Tara's aura was practically thrumming with energy. It had definitely grown since she had first awakened, crossing worlds feeding it as the reaper had known would happen.

"I know what I can show you." She said suddenly, moving her hand from Tara's shoulder. It left her palm feeling hot. "Come on, back inside." She said, striding off back around the hotel. Tara followed her, nonplussed.

Cat unlocked the door of their room and entered, leaving Tara to come in behind her and close it. She stopped in the middle of the room and faced Tara.

"So when we find the Hellmouth I'm going to need you to imbue my sword with the power to act as a key to lock it." The reaper said to the Wiccan. Tara raised her eyebrows.

"Oh…" Was all she could think of to say. Cat had neglected to mention that before.

"It requires a lot of energy and I think you're strong enough to do it now." Tara looked away and crossed the room to sit on her bed. Cat's eyes followed her path.

"And this is some kind of spell?" She asked, blue eyes flicking up to meet Cat's.

"Exactly." She nodded. "Obviously I don't expect you to just stand there and do it. You'll need a protective circle and I'll make sure nothing happens. Then I'll lock the Hellmouth and voila! Job done!"

"I knew I'd be helping you." Tara said after a pause. "But why didn't you tell me this before now?" Casting the spell that would help lock the Hellmouth was something she had expected she would be doing, but she would have liked to have been informed beforehand.

"Well, I didn't think you needed to know until I was sure you could do it." Cat shrugged, reaching into the ether for her sword. It popped into existence beneath her fingers and she drew it and held it down by her leg.

"And if I couldn't do it?" Tara asked, finding her friend's logic somewhat strange. Cat simply smiled.

"I knew you'd be able to eventually." She said, stepping over her bedside table where a small pad of paper sat beside the telephone. She scribbled down the incantation, tore the page free and took it over to Tara. "That's the easy part. Saying the words." She said, sitting beside her. "The hard part is focussing the magics into the blade." She rested her sword across her knees. "Now, Rigel needs the exact right moment to open the Hellmouth. Right now, it's simply closed. But we can waltz up to it any time and lock it." They just needed to find it… "Think you're up to it?"

"I think so…" Tara said, eyeing the words on the paper. The idea seemed to be to fill the blade with enough ethereal energy to seal the Hellmouth by using the sword as a key to channel the power through the gateway. It didn't sound easy.

"Try not to blow the lights." Cat teased her with a grin. Tara gave a faint smile, knowing exactly what effects powerful magic could have on electricals. "Channel everything into the sword." Tara closed her eyes to clear her mind. "Just keep speaking the words." Cat said. Tara nodded, opened her eyes and looked down at the notepaper to hide her uncertainty. Cat seemed to believe in her, as did The Powers, but she didn't feel especially strong. What the reaper really needed was someone like Willow Rosenberg. Now there was a powerful witch if ever there was one.

"Here goes nothing." She mumbled, taking a deep breath and beginning to speak the words, trying to ignore the way Cat watched her like a hawk, head bobbing encouragement. She reached the end of the spell and started again, trying to lace her speech with authority. Magic responded best to strong orders, after all.

Cat lifted her sword from her knees. The weapon was practically humming and the blade was growing hot. The air in the room felt heavy, charged. It was working. It was really working. She looked up to grin victoriously at Tara and was startled to see just how much strain the young woman was under. Her brow was creased and dotted with sweat, chest starting to heave. She looked like she had just sprinted around the hotel grounds, but still she continued, reaching the end of the paper and starting again. Cat felt energy surge, her blade soaking it up greedily. But it wasn't enough. Tara would run herself into the ground before it was anywhere near enough.

"No, stop." She said. "_Stop_!" Tara stopped speaking and raised her eyes to Cat's, both confused and grateful.

"I-I think it was working." She mumbled, raising a trembling hand to push her hair back out of her face. Cat felt the magic dissipate.

"It was." She agreed. "But…"

"I can't do it." Tara finished for the reaper as she faltered, looking away. She felt exhausted, drained by the spell. And it hadn't even been completed.

"Yet." Cat said firmly, sensing Tara's disappointment. Tara raised her eyes to meet Cat's again, questioning. "You'll get stronger still. Or I'll find a way to boost your magic. You could use me but I will need my strength to lock the Hellmouth. It will try to resist. Anyway, this was just a test. We have time yet to figure it out." Tara sighed and shuffled up the bed to lean back against the wall, feeling lethargic. Today wasn't going so well. She had been useless at fighting, and now she couldn't even do the spell she had been brought back to perform.

"I think you channelled too much." Cat told her. Tara gave a faint smile.

"Not something you hear every day." She said, glancing at the reaper.

Cat sheathed her sword and sent it back to nothing with a faint buzz of magic, then climbed from the bed to walk over to the kettle to make them both coffee, sensing Tara needed a boost to counter her energy slump.

"How do you do that?" Tara asked curiously. Cat glanced over her shoulder as she flicked the switch on the kettle to start it boiling.

"Do what?" She asked, fairly certain Tara wasn't inquiring after the miracles of electricity. Tara gestured vaguely.

"The thing." She said, even that seeming to tire her. "With the…sword?" Cat shot her a playful grin, turning to face her.

"Magic." She said, leaning back against the desk behind her, hands either side of her hips to brace herself. Tara mustered the energy to roll her eyes.

"Is everything magic?" She asked.

"Technically." Cat replied. "A reaper's weapon is like a manifestation of their spirit, it belongs to the spirit world. How else could we send on spirits or open and close dimensions…Make demons…?" She pulled a face. The latter wasn't something she liked to be reminded of. "A regular weapon couldn't do that." Steam billowed around Cat's head as the kettle finished boiling, and she turned to pour water into their mugs, and mix in coffee and milk. "It's just like drawing magic to create something. I think."

"Right." Tara said, sitting up properly to take the mug of coffee Cat offered her. "So you have a magic sword?" Cat grinned at her.

"Yup." She said. "Like Excalibur."

"I don't think Excalibur was magical…" Tara said warily, conscious of the fact she was talking to a Brit. Cat shrugged.

"It was in some stories." She replied. "Anyway. My magic sword is a magic key. A skeleton key, if you will, for every Hellmouth and various dimensions. I can lock this Hellmouth, but it's only temporary. Locks can be broken. I think the only way to seal a Hellmouth completely is to destroy it. And _that_ is a task and a half!"

Tara gave a wry smile. Destroying the Hellmouth in Sunnydale had levelled the town.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Wow, so I want to say thanks to all the reviews/faves/follows. Love seeing those :P And here's another update!**

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><p>There was a pub serving "good quality home cooked food" not far from the hotel and so Cat had decided that she and Tara would go there for a late lunch. It was an old redbrick building with a beer garden that backed onto rolling fields and farm land. Inside was low ceilinged with black-painted exposed roof beams, white walls and wooden flooring. There was a definite 'farm' theme going on. Horse trappings, tools and other paraphernalia hung from the walls along with various old black and white photographs of men in flat caps and breeches stood proudly beside huge shire horses. It was out of town, away from the area Buffy Summers and the rest of her gang would be likely to explore. The chances of being discovered were low and yet still Cat felt her gaze snapping to the door each time it creaked open.<p>

"Are you all right…?" Tara asked worriedly after the fourth or fifth time she noticed this happen, looking between the door and the reaper. Cat turned back, glanced up at her, and offered a half smile and a faint nod.

"Yeah, 'course." She said, looking back down at her lunch. Beer battered cod and chunky lumberjack chips, way better than the greasy fried stuff normally bought from a chippy. Even the tartar sauce was home made. She nudged a flake of fish around her plate with the prongs of her fork, desperately trying to think up some excuse for her odd behaviour other than 'I'm worried your friends will turn up'. Thankfully, Tara supplied one for her.

"Is it Rigel…?" She asked softly.

"Maybe." Cat answered vaguely. The idea of lying made her feel guilty. Tara was the kind of sweet innocent woman that inspired fierce loyalty and protectiveness from those around her, not secrecy and…betrayal? Was Cat betraying her friend's trust by hiding knowledge of her old friends? That was a difficult question to answer, one for later when Tara wasn't sat opposite her. She had a large mouthful of beer instead. Right now she was content with the knowledge she had said nothing for fear of hurting Tara. "I may have had ulterior motives for coming out to lunch." She admitted, looking up at Tara, who paused in scraping the last of her pasta onto her fork to meet her eyes. "I want to hit the library, see if I can isolate any likely spots for the… _Hellmouth_." She whispered the last part, well aware of the people around them, glanced about to make sure no one had overhead.

"That sounds like a good plan." Tara gave a lopsided smile and ate the remainder of her lunch. It would be just like old times with the Scooby gang. Getting books. Looking stuff up. Except Cat was most likely going to use a computer rather than leaf through musty old tomes. Still, it was better than nothing. "I can help." She said, laying down her cutlery on her now empty plate and sitting back in her chair.

"That would definitely make it somewhat less tedious." Cat nodded. She would have to traipse through histories and newspaper records for the town, trying to find areas of potential mystical convergence, centres of evil… Not something she was looking forwards to. She eyed up Tara's empty plate. Maybe she could put it off a while longer. "You want dessert?"

"No way!" Tara laughed. "I've eaten too much already!"

Cat sighed and speared a piece of fish on her fork. Maybe not.

* * *

><p>The largest library in town was an old building situated just outside the town centre with the main bulk of books being on the ground floor, and archives, reference and a bank of computers on the first floor.<p>

Already jittery with the idea of bumping into Buffy Summers, or, God forbid, Willow, a grumbling Cat filled out a lengthy form at the membership help desk to grant Tara and herself visitor's access to the library.

"I hate forms." She muttered, hastily scribbling down the required information with a biro and passing the form back to the ancient woman behind the desk along with a pale pink plastic card. Tara raised one eyebrow at the licence.

"You can drive?"

"Yes." Cat said, taking her card back and pocketing it along with their visitor's pass. "Quite well, actually." She nodded her thanks to the library staff and dragged Tara off towards the stairs, pausing by the local interest shelves. "You check out some of this stuff. I'm gonna go fire up a computer and hit Google." She patted Tara's shoulder and bounded off up the wide staircase to the first floor.

Tara watched her go, then turned to the bay in front of her. Maps, cycle routes, river walks, nature, paranormal, history and architecture. She browsed the titles for a moment then grabbed the whole section on paranormal and history. She started for the stairs, her stack of books held between one hand and her chin, then turned back, grabbed a map of the city and surrounding area for just in case and carefully made her way up to the first floor in search of Cat.

Row upon row of tall wooden shelves crammed with thick reference books lined the walls. A closed door at the end of the room lead further into the building, housing files and folders of various import and spools of microfilm depicting old newspapers from way back when. The centre of the room was filled with desks and a bank of computers. A handful of people sat scattered around the room working quietly. The rustle of paper and tapping of keyboards was the only noise in the place.

She found Cat sitting in front of a computer in the corner of the room as far away as possible from anyone else, glaring furiously at the machinery in front of her. Tara walked over and carefully set her pile of books down on the desk beside Cat and pulled a wheelie chair over, eyeing her warily as she sat.

"What's wrong…?" She asked cautiously. She couldn't remember seeing the reaper quite so agitated before.

"This stupid machine!" Cat scowled at the monitor, which displayed a blank white web page and a half filled loading bar. The cursor hovering in the middle of the screen showed a white hourglass turning, pausing, turning. "It's like it runs on coal or something!" It whirred in response. "Yeah, I'm talkin' to you!" Cat snapped. Tara's eyebrows slowly raised at the younger woman's irritation. Evidently she was one of the many people that didn't handle slow technology especially well.

The Google homepage popped into existence on the screen.

"Jeez, about time, sodding useless piece of-"

"Cat, it's okay." Tara said soothingly, patting the hand covering the mouse. "It's just a little slow." Cat shot her a dark look. "Um…Maybe you should use the books instead?" Books didn't need to load.

"It's fine." Cat muttered, quickly typing a few keywords into the search bar. Tara noticed she could type without looking at the keyboard. Evidently this was something she did often, but the only electronic device she had seen of Cat's was a beat up old Discman with the battery pack duct taped in place.

Cat hit enter and inhaled sharply through her nose as the computer whirred and the loading bar filled incredibly slowly.

"This. Is so. _Stressful_." The reaper hissed. Tara said nothing, and instead selected the first book from her towering stack. Cat's rage was both humorous and unnerving.

This was going to be a _long_ research session…

* * *

><p>Cat closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, and twisted her chair away from the computer screen as it stubbornly continued its snail's pace loading of the page she was attempting to view. With her back to the computer she could still hear the fan whirring away behind her, reminding her of the seemingly prehistoric machine. Its appearance belied its functioning capacity, all sleek and black and shiny.<p>

Tara had long since fallen asleep amongst her stack of books, head nestled amongst the pages of some hefty paranormal tome beside Cat. Local ghost stories and folk lore or some such thing. She wished she had taken the witch up on her offer to switch their roles. Books would definitely be more relaxing. Technology was supposed to make life easier.

She spun her chair back round to face the computer and found her page mostly loaded, however it wouldn't let her scroll just yet and so she sat glowering at it, contemplating slamming a fist through the stupid screen. She decided against that course of action however. Breaking the machine would mean she would have to pay for repairs, and wouldn't get her any closer to finding out anything useful. She turned the mouse wheel up and down until the page finally began to respond and started to skim read.

"Finally, heapa junk." She muttered. She leaned her elbow in front of the keyboard and propped her chin in her palm, spinning the mouse wheel to scroll down the page, hazy eyes darting from line to line. She was just getting to the start of the area's history as a Roman market town when Tara woke with a sleepy moan, stirring and rubbing her face. Blue eyes blinked open and she sat up, looking a little disoriented.

"Oh… Did I fall asleep?" She mumbled, glancing at Cat and pushing one hand back through her hair. She looked embarrassed.

"For a little while." Cat looked sideways at her and offered a soft smile. "You should go." She said, leaning back in her chair so she could get a hand in her jeans pocket. She pulled out the key to their room and held it out to Tara. "Get back to the hotel and chill for a bit. I could be a while."

"No, it's okay, I'm sorry…" Tara protested.

"Hey, no, go on, it's fine." Cat shook the key, making it jingle softly against the metal loop fastening it to the keyring.

"Well, okay." Tara sighed, accepting the key. "I could do with the walk after lunch." She pushed back her chair and stood up, missing Cat's smirk.

"Need a belly rub?" The reaper teased. Tara shot her a mischievous look.

"Why? Are you offering?" She countered. Cat raised both eyebrows, not used to playful Tara. Then she noticed the Wiccan gathering up her stack of books, ready to return them to the shelves on the ground floor.

"Leave those, I might have a flick through." She said.

"I'll leave my…notes too." Tara said, tapping a finger against the sheet of A4 she had swiped from the printer while no one was looking. She had jotted down a couple of ideas from the books she had skimmed before falling asleep. Cat nodded and waved her off.

"Catcha later." She said, already turning back to the computer. Tara slipped the room key into her pocket and walked away, smiling crookedly and shaking her head as she heard Cat heave a frustrated sigh behind her, already arguing with the slow technology.

* * *

><p>Tara hadn't been lying about being stuffed from lunch. A whole load of garlic bread followed by a huge bowl of pasta had her feeling like she wouldn't need food for the rest of the week. She had started walking towards the hotel, then thought better of it and decided to lengthen the walk by taking a more roundabout loop, confident she wouldn't get lost. While the sky was growing dark with clouds as the sun set, she had a couple of hours before total darkness. Plenty of time to meander back to the hotel and arrive before Cat, without any drama. Unless the reaper smashed her computer to pieces in frustration and got thrown out. Or arrested. Maybe she should head back to the library…<p>

She shook her head, smiling to herself as she crossed the road, spying an alley she could cut through to get onto one of the main roads so she could head back to the hotel. Cat might get back early and she would probably worry if Tara hadn't turned up yet.

The alley was between two houses that stopped the majority of the sunlight from reaching the ground, which was a little dangerous considering the cracked and broken concrete slabs that paved it. Weeds poked between the fissures, trying desperately to thrive despite the choking concrete and weak sunlight. She watched the ground as she walked, raising her head just as she reached the exit onto the street.

And stopped dead in her tracks. Across the road was a pub, and walking through the car park towards the entrance to this pub was an oh so familiar red head. She was stunned into temporary paralysis. Willow. It was Willow! The shock turned to elation that spread through Tara head to toes, and would surely make her burst.

Willow looked different. How much time had passed? She was still beautiful. Enchantingly so. And happy. So happy and well and carefree. Tara took a step out of the shadows towards the daylight on the street, burning orange from the sunset, and took a deep breath to call out and dash to Willow's side. Of all the happy coincidences, fates, whatever…Willow was _here_.

The red head turned towards a voice from behind her before Tara could announce her presence, and fell into the embrace of a tall dark haired woman carrying brown paper bags filled with heavy shopping. Willow laughed and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Tara felt all of the air in her lungs leave in one painful gasp, as though she had just been sucker punched in the gut. The invisible fist in her stomach twisted cruelly upwards and closed around her heart, crushing it instantly.

"No…" she whimpered. It was hard to swallow past the lump blocking her throat as Tara felt her world falling to pieces around her, smashing down around her feet. "Oh, Goddess, no…" She felt as though she were falling, the sudden rushing sound in her ears disorienting her. No. She really _was_ falling. Her legs gave way beneath her and she crashed to her knees, hard concrete and loose gravel digging into her skin through her trousers.

She had finally found Willow, but Willow had found someone else. Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes, and fell unchecked over her cheeks. She should have expected it. She had died. Willow had moved on. Tara buried her face in her hands and fell back against the alley wall, back into the shadows, away from the light. Away from Willow.

* * *

><p>Willow and Kennedy pulled apart with a smile and made their way to the entrance of the pub. At the doorway Willow faltered, her heart almost skipping a beat. She spun around, green eyes drawn to the small alley way across the street. The high walls stopped any light entering from the street but she could see well enough. It was, however, empty.<p>

"What is it?" Kennedy asked worriedly, ducking back through the doorway to touch her lover's shoulder. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." She peered anxiously into Willow's face, then followed her gaze to the alley way.

"It's…Nothing." Willow replied, tearing her gaze away and meeting Kennedy's dark eyes. She forced a weak smile onto her face. "You know, I'm pretty beat. Let's go to bed."

* * *

><p>For a split second she had been so certain she had sensed Tara nearby, but that was impossible. Tara was…gone. Willow felt the familiar ache in her chest as old wounds reopened. She bit down hard on her lower lip as she crawled into bed, blinking tears from her eyes. In truth, she still loved Tara and she always would. Her lover's death had left a permanent scar behind that would never heal. But she had Kennedy now, and she was happy. Hopefully time would dull the ache. Again.<p>

She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her fingers, trying to hide the tears. Kennedy would be out of the bathroom soon. She had to compose herself. Instead she buried her face in her pillow and pulled the duvet up over her head, pretending to be asleep.

Minutes later, Kennedy burst from the bathroom teeth cleaned and breath smelling of mint, face washed, hair brushed, and an indignant expression on her face.

"God, I swear that bathroom is just a glorified-" she stopped as she saw Willow burrowed beneath the duvet, fiery hair all that was visible, and smiled fondly, "-coffin." She finished softly. She tiptoed over to the bed, flicked off the light and eased herself into bed beside her girlfriend. "Sweet dreams, sleepy head." She murmured, burying a kiss atop Willow's head, then snuggled down next to her and closed her eyes to sleep.

* * *

><p>The orange street lights were on when Cat reached their hotel, illuminating the car park and walkway around the building. However the window of their room was dark. Seeing that the reaper frowned and hurried across the tarmac to knock on the door. Tara should have been back ages ago, and while the sky was still relatively light, inside the room would be dark.<p>

She rapped her knuckles against the black painted wood and stood with her head cocked to one side, listening for sounds of movement from within. Nothing. She felt the beginnings of panic fluttering around her chest, but fought it off. Maybe Tara had fallen asleep when she got back and left the light off. She knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing. Maybe Tara was lost. Panic's hand settled around her heart. She swallowed hard and turned her back on the room, glancing around the car park as though expecting Tara to pop out from behind a parked car and surprise her. Maybe Rigel had found her. Panic squeezed and a stab of fear went through her. God, what if Rigel had her?! She took a step forwards as though to start back into town, but faltered. No, Rigel would have made sure Cat knew about it. She turned back to her room. He would have set up a scene or something. She held her breath and reached out a hand to the door, using magic to unlock it. As it swung open and revealed an empty room she breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was, however, short lived. Empty room, no Tara. She stepped inside and glanced around.

"Tara?" She closed the door behind her and started across the room to the bathroom, flicking on the light as she went. "You in there?" She knocked on the door, already knowing the answer. If Tara was here then Cat would sense her. "Where are you?" She thought aloud, turning back to the empty door, wondering what she should do. Go out and look for her? What if Tara was fine, just taking a leisurely stroll? Cat freaking out would probably unnerve her. Oh, God, what if she had found Willow and Buffy and the rest of them and was never coming back?! The moment of panic she felt then was cast aside when the reaper uttered an agitated growl and pushed her hands back through her hair, clenching her fists in it.

"Shut up, brain!" She snapped, swinging her hands down at her sides and leaning her shoulders back against the wardrobe. Tara was fine. She could sense no danger in the immediate area. Tara was an adult, and a powerful witch. She could handle herself if she ran into trouble. Still. If she wasn't back within the next ten minutes then Cat would head out and look for her. The Wiccan had set out from the library over an hour ago.

She moved over to the window and pushed aside the net curtains, cast one last look about the hotel grounds, then let go of the net, drew the curtains, and went over to her bed, turning on the TV as she passed it. Jeremy Kyle was on berating a scruffy young man. Cat rolled her eyes, jumping onto her bed.

"What a chav." She muttered. "Oh, for God's sake, of course he's not the father!"

Ten minutes of mind-numbing Jeremy Kyle later Cat heard a key scrape in the lock of the door across the room, announcing Tara's return. She didn't look up from the TV. Instead she waited for Tara to enter the room and gave a small smirk. The door clicked shut but Tara called no greeting.

"That was a long walk." She teased. "I thought I was going to have to climb through the win-" Tara gave a small sob and Cat's head snapped round in surprise. "-dow…" The humour died on her lips. Tara dropped the room keys onto the window sill beside the door and hid her face in her hands to cry. Cat hit standby on the TV remote, chucked it aside and leaped from the bed to rush across the room to her friend. "Omigod, Tara, what's happened?! Are you hurt?!" Tara shook her head and tumbled into the reaper's arms to cry into her shoulder.

"Willow's here!" Cat went rigid. "I-I-I saw her, I f-found her and she was…with someone else, they were k-kissing and-" she stopped and took a step back to look at Cat who had stiffened so suddenly. Her grey eyes were downcast, a guilty look on her face. "Cat…?" Tara asked warily. Cat shook her head, refusing to look at Tara. "You knew." It wasn't a question. "You knew she was here?!" A sudden flare of anger. The tears were forgotten. "And you didn't tell me?!" Finally Cat's eyes met the Wiccan's. Stormy grey locked with bright blue.

"What did you expect me to say?!" She demanded, glaring up at Tara. She spread her arms wide. "That I found the love of your life but she's in a relationship? Look at you Tara!" Her expression softened then and she took a step back towards Tara, reaching out to her. "You're in pieces." Tara's head dropped and she closed her eyes, jaw clenched in an effort to stop her tears. She was silent. Speaking might open the floodgates. "Come on, Tara, it's…Going to be okay." Cat pulled a face at how stupid that sounded. How could it be okay? Tara had lost the one thing that made rebirth worth it. She reached up and brushed tears from Tara's cheeks. "I'll fix this somehow. I promise." She took Tara's hands and led her over to her bed, picked up the discarded remote and put it on the nightstand, then sat down with her, hugging her tight. Tara pressed her head against Cat's chest.

"I d-don't think it's something to be fixed." She mumbled. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I was gone for too long. It's…I-I should have realized." She heaved a sigh, calming in Cat's embrace. "You don't have to try and fix everything for me, you know?" Cat grunted, chin resting on top of Tara's head.

"I feel obligated to try considering what you've agreed to do for me."

Close the Hellmouth. It sounded so simple. But the dangers that came with such an act… Rigel would protect that place as though his life depended on it. She knew it wouldn't be a simple case of sneak in, lock the Hellmouth, sneak out. They could die trying. Tara, Cat, maybe both. Probably both. Again.

Cat closed her eyes, lay her head against soft brown hair. Tara felt warm in her arms, and somewhat calmer. Her jaw clenched and then released. No matter what Tara would survive this…quest. And Cat _would_ fix things. She didn't know how, but she would do it.

Tara deserved that much at least.

**A/N: So. Tara's hair. I know pretty much everyone calls her blonde, and I wanted to too, but it's kind of brown towards the end, so…yeah.**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: The whole 'Wiccan recipe' bit is borrowed from DMC, one of my fave games and game series, because that bit is hillarious XD**

* * *

><p>The sun was fast setting when Willow made her way alone into the room she was sharing with Kennedy. The rest of the group was waiting patiently in the bar downstairs for her, not wanting to disturb her spell crafting. The first thing she did was go over to the dressing table and lift the lid on a small square wooden box, chiselled all over with strange Old English runes. She grinned as she saw the electric blue glow inside and closed the lid. That was one spell complete. It had been sitting on the table all morning 'growing' from the ingredients she had bought the day before. She gave the box a proud pat, then picked up the small black felt pouch sat beside it and loosened the string tying the neck closed to check on her 'magic dust' as Kennedy called it.<p>

Magical items ready Willow picked up her mortar bowl and carried it over to her side of the bed, putting it on the bedside table and lifting a scrap of parchment from the table, and a lighter.

"Hekate bless this parchment…" Willow began, praying to the goddess of magic and witchcraft and a multitude of other varied and useful things. Prayer finished she glanced up at the smoke alarm above her head to make sure the battery had been detached then lit the parchment with a lighter and dropped it into the bowl, watching as the parchment flared up, then blackened and curled. As the smoke twisted gracefully upwards she unfolded the map of the city and surrounding area she had picked up at the tourist information office during her shopping trip with Kennedy. She smoothed it out on the bed and looked into her bowl, waiting for the embers to die out, then poured the ash into her palm. "Reveal yourself." She commanded, keeping a clear image of the female death god (death goddess…?) in her mind as she blew the ash across the map and sat back waiting for an ember to glow somewhere, marking the death god's position on the map. "Now is good." She added after a moment of the ash just sitting there, hopeful smile fading. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Please…?" Nothing happened. She frowned, unused to her spells failing, and sat staring at the map for a good few minutes, waiting for something to happen as though the spell was lagging.

Someone tried the door handle from the corridor outside but found it locked and so lightly knocked instead.

"Will, are you in there?" Came Kennedy's cautious voice, muffled by the door. She knew she wasn't supposed to interrupt spells but Willow had been gone a while. Much longer than the Wiccan had claimed she would be.

"One second!" Willow called, swinging her legs off the bed and gathering up the map, folding it to keep the ash inside, then dumping the lot in the bin. She walked over to the door, dusting off her hands, then opened it and gave her lover a gloomy smile.

"All good…?" Kennedy asked, though judging by the look on the redhead's face the answer would be negative. Willow sighed, walking away from the slayer to pick up the box and pouch from their dressing table.

"The tracking spell didn't work." She grumbled. Kennedy frowned slightly, leaning one shoulder against the door frame and folding her arms over her chest.

"Really?" She asked. "Odd. Maybe you can't track death gods?"

"Maybe." Willow said, though she sounded unconvinced. She turned to Kennedy, holding her magical items.

"The others worked though, right?" Kennedy asked, eyeing the box and the pouch. Willow nodded coming over and lifting the pouch in one hand.

"Yup. One mystical distraction spell." She said, and opened the box, revealing the glowing stone inside. "And one magical flare." Kennedy grinned, pushing off from the door frame to eye the flare.

"Oh, wow, your gunk grew into a rock!" She said. Willow closed the box, looking amused, and they made their way out of the room, Willow grabbing a messenger bag from the floor beside the door, checking the contents, then locking up behind them. "So…Without the trace will the flare still work?" Kennedy asked uncertainly, hooking her thumbs into her belt loops and looking sideways at Willow.

"Yeah… It has a limited radius but we've seen her round here a couple of times so hopefully she's hiding out close enough to feel it and come looking." The redhead replied.

"So we'll just pick a place and set it off?" Kennedy asked, and Willow nodded.

"And hope we don't attract anything nasty…"

* * *

><p>That morning had been relatively awkward for Cat and Tara. Cat had admitted to a somewhat despondent Tara that she knew that not just Willow, but the rest of Tara's friends were in town. After a very uninspiring breakfast of dry Cheerios, they had spent the rest of the day going through the various printouts and photocopies Cat had gathered from the library the previous day. It was obvious Tara was trying to just power through the day, to file away the difficulties Willow's presence created so she could deal with them during a less harrowing time. Because she felt the best thing to do, the least painful and confusing thing for Willow, would be to stay away. Just considering that, cutting herself off from Willow, caused her chest to tighten, a stab of pain through her heart. Her throat would constrict and she had to grit her teeth and take slow deep breaths to force her emotions back into line.<p>

Cat looked up from her printouts and sighed softly as she noticed Tara, across the room sat cross legged on her bed, staring at the same piece of paper she had been looking at without seeing for the past couple of hours. Contemplating…what? The ridiculously inconvenient emotional mess they were in? The impending doom of the world? The spell needed to close the Hellmouth? Probably Willow. She looked like she had just swallowed a bee.

"We're going out." The reaper announced, dumping her printed information aside and clambering off her own bed, cursing as the movement caused the papers to slide onto the floor. Tara looked up at her, blue eyes confused. Cat opted to ignore the mess. "I'm feeling Indian." Blue eyes cleared, understanding, and a half smile quirked at one corner of her lips as she watched Cat pull on her hoodie.

"Really? You still look British." She quipped. Cat rolled her eyes, jerking up her hood as she pulled on her leather jacket and lowered the hood over the collar.

"English, dahling." She corrected, exaggerating the accent. "Now, come on, before you stare holes into that." She gestured to the page Tara had been looking at and the young Wiccan blushed faintly at being caught out.

"Okay, but… It's nearly sundown…" She said warily, while slipping off her bed and standing to find her shoes.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Cat waved her concerns off, stuffing her feet into her Doc Martens and lacing them up. "I've never seen a demon attack a restaurant." Tara arched one eyebrow.

"You can't have been in Sunnydale long, then."

"English demons have better manners." Cat shot back with a playful smirk. "They've been brought up on _Upstairs, Downstairs_, and _Downton Abbey._"

"Of course." Tara grinned. Cat grabbed the keys from the writing desk and danced out of their room, holding the door open for Tara.

"C'mon, I saw a great place in town."

* * *

><p>"So I use the flare thingy by stomping on it?" Xander asked, following Willow, Buffy and Kennedy out of the pub. "Then hopefully <em>our<em> death god will turn up and not the potential _other_ one and I distract her with my magic dust and then run away?"

"Right." Willow nodded. "Drawing her to us where I activate the soul trap at the exact right moment. I can then reveal her aura to double check she's not been making freaky demon buddies and then we can just make sure she's not trying to open the Hellmouth and if she's not we can let her go. If she is…Well, we'll come to that later."

"This is a terrible plan!" Xander insisted. "I hate it."

"I'm just pleased we actually have a plan." Buffy said. "I hate to say it, but this is our best lead…"

"Antagonising a death god." Xander gave a sarcastic double thumbs up. "I'm sure she'll love us."

"Use your wily charms on her." Kennedy teased. "Then she'll forgive us." Xander scowled at her.

"It's a good plan!" Willow maintained. "If she is the big bad, or if anything…unexpected turns up we have the soul trap. Whoever's stuck in there is…well, stuck. We'll have all the time in the world to figure out what to do with them."

"Except we won't, because the world might be ending in a couple of days." Xander replied somewhat tersely.

"Sheesh, Xander, you're such a pessimist!" Buffy cried.

"Continuous impending doom will do that to a man." He said.

"I've had more impending doom than you and I'm fine!" She arched an eyebrow, daring him to dispute that.

"You're a slayer, it's in your job description."

"You're a Scooby, you chose it."

"Yeah? Well…!" Buffy raised both eyebrows expectantly, looking more than a little smug. "I'm thinking!"

"Seriously, guys, stop it before I pop a bolt in your ass." Kennedy said, hefting the bag she had brought along to conceal her crossbow. Willow gave her an appreciative look and slipped her hand into her girlfriend's.

"Witch's pet." Xander muttered as they moved slightly ahead. Buffy elbowed him playfully, though shared an amused smirk with him.

"This way." Willow said, heading away from the main road. "I saw a street which is mainly offices and warehouses. No one will be around to see us."

"You're making it sound like we'll be doing something illicit!" Buffy grinned at her best friend.

"Well, we're not." Willow said uncertainly. "Are we?"

"We do have concealed weapons…" Xander said.

"I think it's kind of a special circumstance." Buffy shrugged her shoulders. Kennedy looked back at the group with an excited grin.

"Hey, maybe we'll get chased by some real live bobbies!"

"As opposed to dead ones?" Xander raised one eyebrow.

"Undead bobbies I can deal with." Buffy patted the stake tucked into her jeans waistband. "I wonder why they call them bobbies..."

"Ask Giles." Kennedy suggested.

"There will be no chasing bobbies, live or otherwise!" Willow announced, leading them along an empty street of identical semi-detached houses with almost identical front gardens. The fading sun set the sky ablaze while the moon was just visible, pale and almost full. Clouds gathered low and heavy on the horizon, threatening to sweep in and dowse the town in another torrential downpour.

Willow crossed the street and lead the group into a road that culminated in a dead end. A couple of office blocks stood side by side with corrugated steel storage depots and a small garage. A single story redbrick building stood sentry at the very end, clearly disused and empty for some time now. A few cars were parked at the curb but the buildings all stood dark and silent, casting the road into shadow. They wouldn't be interrupted down here.

"Good call." Buffy said as they made their way to the far end. "The dead end might be a problem." There was only one way in and out of the road. They could become trapped and none of them really knew the full strength or many of the skills (besides running and swordplay) that the death god possessed.

"Probably not though." Kennedy replied, rubbing Willow's shoulder, giving her an almost proud smile.

"Okay, guys." Willow said, delving into her bag o' tricks and producing first the wooden box and then the pouch. She handed both to Xander who pocketed the pouch after loosening the ties, then removed the glowing stone from it's box and held it in his fist with a grimace.

"It's cold." He gave the box back.

"Xander, go find somewhere to get the ball rolling. Not too far, make sure you can find your way back here in time. Wait five minutes then smash the stone." Willow said, stuffing the box back into her bag.

"Sure thing, mom!" He grinned at her and received an unimpressed look in return. "…Going now." He turned and jogged back the way they had come.

"Maybe I should go with him…" Buffy said, watching their friend turn the corner and disappear from sight.

"And then the death god will know we're up to something." Willow scolded Buffy. She dumped her messenger bag on the ground and rummaged inside.

"Uh… I'm pretty sure she'll figure that out when he chucks sand in her face." Kennedy said. Willow chose to ignore that. She triumphantly produced a Thermos and unscrewed the lid. Buffy moved away and sat on the curb to leave the Wiccan to her spell, but Kennedy watched with vague interest as Willow carefully poured a runny white liquid out in a wide circle, then crouched and dipped her fingers into the flask to draw symbols on the ground inside the circle.

"So this is a soul trap?" The dark haired slayer asked, crouching beside her girlfriend.

"Yup." Willow responded. Kennedy poked a finger into the liquid and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger. It felt warm and gritty. She lifted her hand and sniffed at it and immediately recoiled.

"Doesn't smell too good…" She needlessly announced. "What is it?"

"It's an old Wiccan recipe." Willow told her eagerly, pleased Kennedy was taking an interest. "It's made up of sea salt, shark oil, iron shavings, desiccated squirrel semen, wolf hair-" Kennedy wiped her hand on the back of Willow's shirt and stood up.

"Good stuff!" She said a little over-enthusiastically and Willow narrowed her eyes, glancing between her shirt and Kennedy. Buffy snorted having overheard them.

"Will, I don't think that's what the Thermos is designed for…" She teased. Willow screwed the cap back on, shoved the flask into her bag and stood up, bag in hand, eyes on the elaborate symbol she had just painted on the ground. It stood out stark white against the dark road.

"I think she might see it." Buffy deadpanned. Willow spoke a single command word and instantly the white faded from sight, leaving behind a faint shimmer. She looked sideways at Buffy, smug. "I said _might_!"

* * *

><p>Xander took another turning and jogged a few houses down the road, halting beneath a streetlight that buzzed with electricity to catch his breath. At a sprint he was less than a minute from Willow and the slayers. More than enough time to distract the death god and flee to safety. Or at least he hoped it was. He didn't much fancy becoming a Xander-shaped shish kebab on the end of a samurai sword. He shoved a hand into his trouser pocket and made sure he could grab a fistful of Willow's magic dust and withdraw it with ease, then opened his other hand and looked at the small smooth stone resting in his palm, glowing blue from within. It was still icy cold. The warmth of his palm hadn't heated its surface even slightly.<p>

"Well…Here goes nothing…" He mumbled, turning over his hand. The stone dropped to the pavement with a faint clatter and bounced. He lifted his foot as it started to roll away and stomped down, crushing the stone easily beneath his heel. It crunched like glass and he instantly felt some sort of tremor that rippled out around him, the stone at its centre. "Oh boy…" He glanced around himself nervously, every hair stood on end as a surge of magic surrounded him.

If the death god didn't turn up then something else certainly would.

* * *

><p>Cat stopped first, causing Tara to step ahead. The Wiccan turned with confusion in her eyes and opened her mouth to ask the reaper what had caused her to halt so suddenly, when she felt energy crackle up her spine. A static beacon of pure magic pulsating in the distance.<p>

"What is that?" She asked, turning her clear blue gaze in the direction of…whatever it was. Something relatively strong to be causing such ripples in the magical ether.

"No clue." Cat said. Tara felt another fainter burst of magic from beside her and looked down to see Cat grasping her sword in one hand. The reaper turned her icy blues on the Wiccan. "Stay here, I'll go check it out. If I'm not back in ten head back to the hotel." She handed over the keys. Tara opened her mouth to protest but a hard look from Cat killed the words in her throat. Instead she dipped her head and nodded.

"Sure. Okay." She muttered. Cat clasped her shoulder to show her appreciation and then hurried off down the street, running towards the source of the disturbance. It felt relatively nearby and stationary and so it took only a couple of minutes for her to locate. She arched an eyebrow as she turned the corner and found a young dark haired man with an eye patch shuffling nervously around the centre of the magical burst. The slayer's friend. Tara's friend. She slowed her jog to a walk and approached him and all at once the energy stopped.

"Some magic trick you have there." She said, impressed. The man smiled at her. He meant it to be casual but she read the skittishness in it. He was eager to be gone from here.

"It was pretty neat, huh?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while the other stayed firmly jammed in his trouser pocket. His single eye fell to her sword, then rose to meet her steady gaze. He gulped.

"Probably not the greatest of plans considering it's growing darker by the second." She told him.

"I know. But, um…we need to talk…" He said, glancing over her shoulder. Cat narrowed her eyes and looked back to see what he was watching. Seeing nothing she turned back to him. And yelped as a sudden brilliant white flash blinded her. She could hear pounding feet heading away from her and stumbled after them, blinking rapidly to clear her vision.

"GET BACK HERE!"

* * *

><p>As Xander fled for his life he gave himself a mental pat on the back. He hadn't expected the good old fake 'I noticed something behind you' to work on the death god and yet it had. Alexander Lavelle Harris had outwitted a <em>god<em>. And when she had turned back he had chucked a fistful of his magic dust in her face and pow! Incapped a god.

He was, however, now being chased by said god as she recovered from the disorienting effects of the dust and charged after him to exact her godly revenge.

"I'll teach you to play dirty, stupid pirate man!"

Xander grit his teeth and put on an extra burst of speed, unnerved by how quickly the death god had caught up with him. But at least they had attracted the right person.

He sprinted into the street Buffy, Kennedy and Willow were hiding down, running as fast as he could. He saw Kennedy behind a car levelling her crossbow, Buffy crouched out of sight beside her with a throwing axe in one hand. Willow peeked out from behind a white van across the street from them.

"Incoming!" Xander yelled and dived behind Willow's van just as the death god burst onto the street swearing and cursing and still staggering a little from Willow's creation.

"Ready?" Buffy asked Willow softly, who gave a determined nod, green eyes on the death god, who charged with her sword drawn and raised in one hand, scabbard held low in the other.

Too late Cat saw Willow, emerald eyes locked onto her, speak a command word. Cat skidded to a halt and not a moment too soon as she slammed into a magical barrier and bounced off, landing on her butt on the tarmac. Her sword clattered onto the ground beside her. Runes flared bright blue around her in a circle and Cat's eyes widened as she recognized the soul trap, which could mean only one thing…

"No, don't-"

"_Aperio_!" Willow commanded. "Reveal yourself!" There was a pause, and then Cat felt it. That familiar release. But where usually she was in control when she let go of her aura, Cat was forced to unleash her energy in one catastrophic blast. Power surged from within her and swelled outwards. The magical shockwave took the assembled group from their feet and threw them backwards. The streetlights closest flared bright as they were overloaded and then exploded in a shower of sparks and glass, followed by the nearest car alarms blaring at once as the vehicles rocked from the blast. And almost within seconds of the release Cat heard the worryingly familiar screech of a shadow demon, locking on to her location.

"You idiots!" She shouted, leaping to her feet and scooping up her sword to hammer at the barrier around her. The force of her spirit had weakened the wards but not enough for her to break free. "Don't you know what you've done?! Let me out!" Her blade sparked and crackled with energy with each strike but still, she was trapped.

Buffy sat upright, looking dazed. Blood ran from her nose and she backhanded it, looking around herself at the group.

"Everyone okay?" She asked. Xander groaned in response from her left and lifted one arm vaguely in the affirmative.

"Maybe that was a bad idea…" Willow admitted softly, staring up at the night sky in a daze. She too had a bloody nose. A side effect of being whalloped in the face by the full force of Cat's aura.

"LET ME OUT!" Cat screamed at them. "Don't you hear it coming?!" Kennedy leaped to her feet, crossbow loaded and ready for action. She had grazed her head on impact with the road but seemed unfazed, dark eyes surveying the street. There was a terrible wailing roar from nearby that sent unpleasant tingles racing the length of her spine. The fine hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

"That can't be good…" She murmured.

"She's definitely a death god, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah! A pissed off one!" Xander said, struggling into a sitting position. Willow gave Buffy a look of confusion.

"She's _a_ death god." The red head said. "But not _the_ death god. She didn't make the demons. But she could still be helping to unlock the Hellmouth."

"SET ME FREE!" Cat raged, pacing her magical cage. With a roar of anger she spun and lashed out at the barrier with her sword again. The barrier sparked in response, but held. There was another cry from the approaching demon, nearer this time. The Scoobies were on their feet then, weapons at the ready.

"Will, let her out." Buffy said. Willow hesitated and looked questioningly at Buffy, but then decided she trusted her friend's intuition and raised her hand to release Cat. Just at that moment another woman bowled into the street, making a bee line for the death god. She thrust out one hand, acting on instinct, and the soul trap exploded into nothing. The reaper reached out to the blonde and pulled her close, moved to stand in front of her, both facing the direction of the incoming threat.

"Goddammit, Tara, I told you to stay out of this." She growled.

"You're welcome." Tara said breathlessly. "But we have a problem…" Further comment was rendered impossible by the hulking mass of black flesh that burst into the street and charged the length of it without pausing to even look at what it was running to. Claws flashed as it leaped at Cat, who roughly shoved Tara aside out of harm's way and met it head on, cold steel sparking off razor sharp talons. The beast gave a bellow as it was thrust back by the reaper's defence and reached back to swipe at her. As Cat prepared to dive sideways out of the demon's reach a crossbow bolt whistled through the air and struck it in the shoulder with a thud, causing it to howl in pain and rear up, struggling to reach back and pull the barb free.

"Come on, then, ugly!" Kennedy yelled, charging into the fray.

Across the street, Buffy, Xander, and Willow stood stock still, stunned into inaction by the appearance of the blonde. Buffy was the first to speak.

"Is that-?"

"Tara." Willow finished softly. All colour had drained from her face and she looked ready to collapse or perhaps suffer a heart attack. Seeing that face had shocked her to the core. Tara was…alive? But she had died! Willow had seen it! Hell, Willow had buried her and sat by that grave sobbing her heart out and yet Tara was here? _Here_? Had she gone mad? The ground rocked beneath her as her world turned itself on its head. The street, the fight, her friends, everything receded until all she could see was Tara. She felt numb inside, her brain only able to focus on the sheer impossibility of what it was apparently seeing. Her heart pounded against her ribs so hard she thought it might burst free, and her hands trembled at her sides. She took an unsteady step forwards but Xander wrapped an arm around her chest and held her back.

"Wait." He said. In this state Willow was likely to get herself killed. He could see how unnerved she was. He himself felt lost. After the trauma of his friend's death and Willow's descent into darkness he just didn't know what to make of this. It was too much to comprehend. All his poor confused brain could throw up was '_Wuh_…?'

Another crossbow bolt thrummed from Kennedy's bowstring and slammed into the beast's ankle as she and Cat fought the demon, bringing it down onto one leg.

Tara was on her feet and running towards the fight, eager to help. The slayer and the reaper were hammering away at the beast but it just kept coming back for more. She drew back a hand and thrust it forward, attempting to knock the beast down with a magical force field. The demon halted as though it had just run into a wall but it stayed standing and snarled at Tara, her attack serving only to anger it further.

Buffy ran forwards and prepared to leap onto its back, small throwing axe flashing as she raised it up above her head to strike, but Cat dragged her back.

"Careful!" She cried. "Don't touch it." The demon screeched and reared up, thick black blood welling around a third bolt that had suddenly sprouted from the centre of its throat and beginning to run down its barrel like chest. Buffy seized her chance and hurled her axe with such force that it wedged the full blade in the demon's neck below Kennedy's bolt. Cat lunged forwards and thrust upwards, forcing her blade through bone and muscle and into its heart as the demon staggered backwards. She turned her face away as blood ran down her blade and shoved the dying creature onto its side to withdraw her weapon. Kennedy fired one last bolt into its skull and with a piteous whimper and a shudder the demon finally ceased moving altogether. It slowly dissolved into a pile of ash, which Cat kicked at to disperse, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Got shadow demon in my shoe…"

"Tara…?" Buffy said softly, warily, hardly daring to believe. Cat turned to see Tara looking from Buffy to Willow, and Xander, who still stood looking shell shocked several meters behind them all, tears welling in her bright blue eyes.

"Tara?!" Kennedy cried in shock, gaping at the woman. She knew that name… "What?! I thought you were dead!"

"Well, that's just rude." Cat told the slayer, pressing her sword point into the tarmac and leaning on the pommel. Willow came flying over and tackle hugged the blonde witch, almost throwing them both to the ground.

"You're not The First! It's really you! You're alive!" She cried, bursting into tears. "How? How are you here?!" Her fingers curled into Tara's jacket sleeves, too tight, as she stepped back to look into her face, but Tara didn't seem to notice the death grip, or if she did then she didn't care.

"Cat." Tara replied simply, tears falling freely over her cheeks, blue eyes on Willow's. She pressed close and nuzzled into Willow's shoulder, trying to choke back a sob. Willow had no clue what 'cat' meant but at that moment simply didn't give a damn.

Kennedy's dark eyes narrowed somewhat at the intimacy of the hug but made no comment. Xander and Buffy joined them then, arms wrapped tight around the Wiccans.

Cat and Kennedy stood awkwardly amongst the ashes of their now forgotten adversary.

"So. I'm Cat." Said the reaper to the slayer, looking up at her. "Nice shooting." Kennedy looked down at her, envy written clear as day in her eyes. Tara was having snuggles with _her _Willow. Cat cleared her throat loudly and uncomfortably, and turned back to the group in front of her and their emotional reunion. "Soooo…We should probably go before more nasties turn up…" She said loudly. Kennedy slung her crossbow across her shoulders, adjusted the strap and stalked off.

"Better head back to the bar." She announced. "Giles and Dawn should know about this." Tara glanced after her, then met Cat's eyes and pulled out of the huddle, understanding that things were about to become incredibly difficult. Cat jerked her head after Kennedy, then turned her back on the group and followed the dark haired slayer, sword in hand. She reversed her grip and sheathed the weapon behind her back and sword and scabbard shimmered into inexistence.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So...I struggle to write emotions and stuff and I wasn't too sure how the Scoobs would react in this situation anyway. Hope it's okay! ^^ **


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: So, I actually really like Kennedy and I hope I've written her reaction to the love of her girlfriend's life rocking up right. Things may get a little crazy for a while :P**

* * *

><p>"That…That's my…girlfriend." Willow mumbled with considerable difficulty, nodding her head at the dark-haired slayer striding some way ahead of the group having a somewhat easy conversation with the reaper by her side. "Kennedy." Tara glanced from Willow (who was guiltily looking anywhere but her) to Kennedy and ducked her head with a small half-smile and a little nod.<p>

"Um, yeah…I-I know." She admitted sheepishly. It wasn't like she had been spying on Willow and Kennedy. She had accidentally stumbled across them. But still, the knowledge made her feel a little uneasy, like she had done something she shouldn't have. She felt Willow tense beside her, and the red head looked sideways at her, clearly confused. Tara folded her arms over her chest as though to hug herself, eyes downcast. "I, um, accidentally found you guys?" She glanced up, meeting brilliant green eyes that apparently still held sway over her as she found herself unable to look away again. She gave a soft, crooked smile. "And I…saw you…A-and Kennedy…" She added awkwardly. The mixture of pain and guilt in Willow's eyes made Tara swallow hard. She hated to see the redhead hurting.

Willow looked away, blinking back tears and shaking her head. This wasn't real. How could it be real? All those fruitless months of agony, begging every deity she had ever heard of and more, praying and wishing for her soul mate to return from death. She gave up hope, let the wounds heal as best she could, fell for Kennedy. To bring back Tara now when she couldn't-_shouldn't_-have her? That was cruel. Some sick joke. And how must Tara feel?

Willow took a deep breath, clenching her fists at her sides as she felt her hands trembling.

"Tara, I'm _so _s-"

"Don't you dare apologise." Tara said firmly. Willow looked up at her in surprise, both at the forceful tone and the words. "You have no reason. I _died_, Willow. Quite a while ago, according to Cat." She frowned. Seeing the date on a newspaper after Cat had brought her back had really freaked her out for a while. In fact, she was still coming to terms with the whole thing. "A-anyway. I never expected you to put your whole life on hold because of that." Technically not a lie. Newspaper or no, it hadn't really occurred to Tara so much time had passed considering she had effectively been frozen in time in her moment of death, held between worlds by the Powers until she was needed. It still felt like barely a week had gone by between getting shot and waking up.

"But I feel so-"

"It's okay, Will." Tara said surprising herself by believing her words. She could see the turmoil in her (ex) lover's eyes. Willow was breaking apart and struggling to catch the pieces. Her whole world had changed in a matter of seconds and she didn't know what to do. "Things will work out. You'll see." Apparently she had been taking lessons from Cat the optimist. Willow gave her a hopeful look, complete with a faint smile.

"I hope so…" She mumbled. Tara reached out to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze. It was such a small, simple comfort, but still, the familiarity of it brought a lump to Willow's throat. It had been so long she had almost forgotten the gaping hole left behind as her soul was torn asunder by Warren. Now Tara was here, beside her, warm and real, that hole was filled. She had missed Tara's touch and she wanted nothing more than to press close and never let go, to reach out and touch the one person she had missed so much.

She stuffed her hands into her trouser pockets to keep them to herself.

Tara crossed her arms over her chest again before she could do anything to embarrass herself. Willow was not hers anymore, and her girlfriend wasn't so far ahead that she wouldn't notice any accidental wayward hands.

"So, um…" Tara began eager to fill the easy quiet between them if only to silence her mind, "What…What happened to Xander's, uh…" She looked at Willow and lifted one hand to circle a finger in front of one eye.

"Oh…A lot happened after you…" Willow trailed off, not wanting to talk about that abrupt end to their relationship. "I guess I'd better fill you in…"

* * *

><p>Xander sidled up beside Cat, leaving Buffy and, after a glance at the one-eyed man, Kennedy to move ahead and lead the group back to the pub. He looked down at the reaper with a nervous grin, thumbs hooked into his belt loops.<p>

"Hi!" He said loudly. Too loudly. Cat looked a little bewildered.

"Um…Hello…"

"I'm Xander."

"Cat." Said she, looking up at him curiously. He offered his hand to shake, and she grasped it firmly, resulting in a more casual smile from Xander.

"I'm sorry I temporarily blinded you." He said. She decided he did look quite apologetic and so nodded.

"I'm sorry I called you a stupid pirate man…" She had the grace to look ashamed. Xander simply gave her a warm smile.

"I think I deserved it. And sorry about the whole…trap thing. We were-" Cat held up a hand to cut him off. Considering the circumstances she found it understandable. Willow wanted to figure her out without putting herself or her friends in danger, and after the various clashes the group had found themselves in it made sense to be more than a little suspicious of the reaper.

"It's okay. No harm done." She said fairly. "In fact, I think you guys caused _yourselves_ more harm." Xander chuckled and reached a hand up to the back of his head where he had acquired a lump after being thrown from his feet courtesy of Cat being forced to release her full strength in one blast.

"Karma, right?" He asked with a wince.

"Yeah, maybe." Cat replied, smirking faintly, following the slayers through an alley way towards _The Horn Inn_.

"We just wanted to be sure you weren't the one making Abominations." Xander told her. Cat raised an eyebrow.

"You know about them?" She asked. Evidently Tara's friends had been doing some research. Xander nodded, his expression dark.

"Oh yeah." He said.

"Well, I know who's been making them." Cat muttered, kicking at a loose chunk of pavement. It skittered ahead of them, then clacked against the wall and came to a halt. Xander's head snapped round at this revelation. Cat read his expression and shook her head. "Let's get to Mr Giles and Buffy's sister first. I think we all have a lot to talk about."

* * *

><p>Giles and Dawn had started out by flicking through a couple of books in Giles' room until Dawn announced she was hungry and they took their research down into the bar to order a snack and some drinks.<p>

A bowl of nachos, several packets of peanuts, half a plate of garlic bread, two pints of Pepsi and a pot of tea later had Giles halfway through a chapter in a voluminous text potentially detailing death gods, and Dawn tackling the handful of books and leaflets Willow and Kennedy had picked up from the tourist information centre in town the previous day. The book Giles was reading had also been a new purchase when the dark-haired slayer and the Wiccan had stumbled upon what Willow described as "the English version of The Magic Box", which definitely merited further investigation. They could stock up on magical supplies and gather useful tools and books to send home.

"Giles, nothing in here sounds really useful." Dawn complained. "There's a really old church, some mansion with nice gardens or…the world's oldest pub? Maybe you'd want to visit that, I don't know…" The look Giles shot her suggested otherwise, and so she cleared her throat and looked back at the book, pretending to scan for information. "I just… I know you said in an old town like this people notice weird things and they get mentioned and stuff but I really don't think any of this is relevant at all."

"Keep looking, we'll find something." Giles said encouragingly, putting down his book to clean his glasses on his sweater. "Buffy and Kennedy will be widening their search area to the surrounding area tomorrow. In the meantime, research is the key." Dawn lowered her head to catch the straw poking out of her almost untouched third pint of Pepsi in her mouth and sucked up a mouthful and swallowed.

"Research sucks." She grumbled as she sat back with her guide book. Giles rolled his eyes as he returned his glasses to his face and reached out to lift the mug of tea at his elbow. Steam still curled off the top of the brew and he was just about to sip at it when the bar door opened and in strode Buffy with the death god walking beside her, followed by Kennedy and Xander, who were in turn followed by Willow.

"Hey, guys." Buffy said, pausing a short way from the table. Giles looked from her to the death god at her side and raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised to see her there. Dawn straightened in her seat, looking wary.

"Hi." Cat said with a small wave. "You eatin' that?" She pointed at the plate of garlic bread between Giles and Dawn, mostly untouched.

"Nope, help yourself." Dawn nudged the plate over, looking somewhat suspicious at Cat's carefree manner. After all, the plan had been to trap and interrogate the death god. Dawn had been under the impression she would be in a rage about the harsh treatment.

"Wicked!" Cat bounced over to the table and started stuffing her face. "'S good. We skipped dinner."

"We…?" Dawn questioned.

"Yeah, um…We have something…Some_one_ to show you." Buffy began awkwardly. They had decided words were pretty much inadequate in this situation and that simply _showing _would be the best way to deal with this. She glanced back at the group behind her and nodded faintly, and they stepped aside to reveal an incredibly uncomfortable Tara, who flashed her lopsided smile and ducked her head shyly, hands twisting together before her.

"Hey…" She said softly, glancing back up at her old friends.

Giles and Dawn stared at her in open-mouthed shock, Giles' mug slowly slipping round the fingers gripping the handle until he poured a stream of hot tea in his lap and came to his senses with a jump and a yelp.

"Omigod, TARA!" Dawn pretty much screamed and shot from the table like a rocket, cannoned into the blonde's arms and almost knocked them both over. The bar became silent as the few customers present halted their conversations to gape at the outburst.

"My God, what…?" Giles stood up and hurried over, trying to clean himself up with a red paper napkin.

"Death god." Buffy explained, smiling across the room at Cat (who had finished the garlic bread and now started on Dawn's Pepsi).

"Incredible." Giles replied. Tara smiled at him as she pulled away from Dawn to welcome the embrace Giles offered her. "Just…incredible. I can't believe…" He stepped back, hands at her shoulders, to look her up and down. "It's really you…"

"It's really me." Tara beamed up at him. "Cat brought me back."

"And Cat is…?" Giles gestured with a nod of his head back to the reaper sat at the table, investigating his still open book. Tara nodded.

"A soul reaper." She said. "So… I guess we need a Scooby meeting or something?" She grinned, winding her arm around Dawn's shoulders as the teen gave an excited squeal and bounced on the balls of her feet, Tara's return apparently sending her on a high.

"Good idea." Buffy said, leading the group back over to the table Giles and Dawn had claimed. Cat scooted to the end with a menu in one hand. "Did you and Dawn learn anything new while we were gone?" She looked to Giles, who dropped his now wet napkin onto the table and reclaimed his mug of tea.

"You mean besides the fact Dawn's stomach is a bottomless pit?" He asked.

"Hey!" Dawn cried indignantly.

"Oh, Cat's like that too." Tara said playfully, sitting beside the reaper.

"Hey, I gotta source my mystical awesomeness somehow!" Cat replied. "And I'm thinking right now bangers 'n' mash should hit the spot. Be right back!" She slid off her chair and dashed up to the bar, menu in hand.

"I'm going to go and clean up." Kennedy announced. "And get rid of this." She patted the bag slung across one shoulder, concealing her crossbow and Buffy's axe, then held out a hand for Willow's messenger bag. Willow gave her a thankful smile and slipped the heavy bag from her shoulder, gripping it by the strap as she gave it to Kennedy.

"Thanks. I'll stay here." She said, glancing back across the table at Tara. Kennedy gave a curt nod and left the bar with both bags.

"She, um…Seems nice." Tara said as Willow took the chair opposite her. Kennedy had glanced at her once since the group became reacquainted before sweeping off and ignoring her the rest of the time, apparently identifying a rival in Tara. Willow gave a small smile and dropped her gaze to the beer mat in front of her, picking it up and fiddling with it. Tara sensed the redhead's guilt and reached across the table to cover Willow's hands with her own, to still them. "Really. Stop worrying."

"That, uh…Probably isn't going to happen any time soon." Willow said, green eyes rising to meet Tara's. She swallowed hard, feeling the familiar thrill of excitement as those baby blues met hers, the tingling heat from Tara's touch setting her skin ablaze. _Oh boy_…

"So! What'd I miss?" Cat dropped back into her chair beside Tara with a wooden spoon in her hand. A black number was written on the back in faded permanent marker.

"Um…" Tara frowned, eyeing the spoon.

"What? The barman gave it to me! It's so the waiter knows where to bring my nummy treats. Also doubles as a poking stick." She prodded Tara's shoulder with it in demonstration. Willow raised an amused eyebrow, and Tara rolled her eyes, snatching the spoon away from Cat, who promptly pouted.

"Hey…"

"Let's put it where it's supposed to be, huh?" Tara replied to the indignant reaper, slotting it into the menu stand in the middle of the table.

"Yes, mum." Cat grumbled.

"Wow, you totally just told a death god off!" Dawn laughed from Tara's other side. Cat's brow creased slightly at the term, and she leaned forwards to look around Tara at the teen.

"I prefer reaper." She said. "It's less…" She paused, searching for the term. "Holier than thou?" She asked.

"Is there any godliness in you?" Giles asked curiously from the end of the table. Cat wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"Nuh uh! We're not deities. Nobody worships us, never have. We're like…Lares or hobs." She said.

"You're like a household cooker?" Xander asked, bewildered. Cat frowned at him.

"No. A hob is… it's like a household spirit...We're kind of revered like protective spirits rather than deities like Zeus, or even Thanatos." She explained. "The name 'death god' is from way back when, from people mistaking our powers for divinity. Then we became soul reapers when people realized we acted as servants for a higher power."

"The Powers That Be." Buffy stated, and Cat nodded.

"Exactly." She said.

Kennedy came back then, striding across the bar to take the vacant seat next to Willow, opposite Cat. She scraped the chair back and sat down, glancing between her friends. Her dark eyes slipped straight over Tara.

"What'd I miss?" She asked. She had washed the ash and blood from her face and changed her clothes.

"Cat was filling us in on the politically correct term for a reaper." Xander grinned down the table at Cat.

"Oh right." Kennedy said, turning her attention to Cat. "So, you know who's been creating those demons?" She asked, having overheard her talking to Xander in the alley.

"Kennedy." Giles said, as Cat opened her mouth to speak. The group turned their gaze to him instead. "I think we should talk shop tomorrow. I don't think anyone will be able to concentrate tonight." He grinned at Tara who ducked her head and gave a crooked smile. Willow felt her heart flutter in response to that smile and quickly looked away.

"Oh…Right." Kennedy replied. "Of course."

"Who cares about the apocalypse? Tara's back!" Xander said genuinely, shooting Tara a goofy grin. She raised her eyebrows at him and laughed.

"Wow, thanks, Xander, but, um…Maybe on that note we should at least figure out what we all know?"

"Dinner!" Cat cried gleefully, spying a waiter heading towards them bearing her food.

* * *

><p>The group had nothing to offer each other in terms of an information swap. Neither the Scoobies nor Cat and Tara had come up with anything other than a second reaper by the name of Rigel intended to open the Hellmouth during the impending blood moon. Cat and Rigel had some history, however brief, but that did at least give them a little insight into the inner workings of his mind. Perhaps.<p>

Cat let Tara do the talking as she concentrated on wolfing down her plate of sausages, mash, vegetables and gravy.

Tara wasn't hungry.

She watched as the Scoobies took over once she had said her piece, the slayers trying to make a plan of action with their limited knowledge. She glanced across from her at Willow and found her gaze locking with the redhead's as though magnetized. She gave a lopsided smile and Willow beamed back at her. That smile faltered slightly as Kennedy pressed a hand to her shoulder to lean around her girlfriend in an attempt to catch Buffy's eyes and halt the babblefest plan she was attempting to formulate.

"Buffy, we don't even know where this guy is!" She called, oblivious to Willow as the redhead focussed on the table in front of her struggling with what seemed to be battling emotions. Kennedy's touch didn't seem to be reassuring any more. Instead it made her feel uncomfortable. Tara was sat opposite her. Tara who had been her girlfriend, her soul mate even, up until Warren put an end to that with a bullet. One tiny piece of metal…And her world was shattered.

She knew she shouldn't feel guilty about this. Tara understood, she wasn't angry or sad or…at least if she was she hid it well, behind the usual calm demeanour. Tara sat looking completely Zen as always despite the madness and excitement surrounding her. Dawn had her attention now, tugging on Tara's elbow while babbling on about something completely irrelevant. Tara was smiling and giggling along with her. Willow smiled fondly. It almost felt as though Tara had never been away with how easily everyone slipped into the norm.

"-low? …Hey!" Willow was brought from her reverie by a sharp nudge Kennedy.

"Wuh?" She blinked at her girlfriend. The dark-haired slayer scowled at her.

"I asked if you could try that locator spell again?" She repeated. Willow blushed faintly.

"Um, sorry, I was…I'm kinda tired…" She lied. Kennedy raised one eyebrow and glanced at Tara and Willow knew she had been caught out.

"Locator spell?" Cat asked curiously, shoving her now empty plate away from herself. Grateful for the distraction Willow nodded and began to explain.

"I tried to find you using a standard locator spell but it didn't work." She said. "I guess I could try it out on your reaper buddy…"

"Rigel is _not_ my buddy." Cat said, scrunching her nose in disgust at the thought. "And I doubt you'd find him. He's concealing his aura and he's bound to have warded wherever he's hiding out. I've warded our hotel room to hide Tara from him. And myself technically." She neglected to mention the fact Rigel already knew where they were. Besides, she thought smugly to herself, just because he knew where they _could_ be it didn't mean he knew _when_ they would be there.

"So that must be why my spell failed!" Willow grinned almost triumphantly. "I knew it wasn't me. I haven't had a failed spell, or potion, since… Well, for ages. What kind of ward did you use? I know locator spells are pretty simple but it must be a strong ward to hide you from me!"

As Willow discussed the finer points of spell craft with Cat ("I have no clue what I did, Poundland must sell really good rock salt!") Xander noticed Tara making with the goo goo eyes at the redheaded Wiccan. His own eye widened in alarm. Sure it was to be expected of Tara but if he knew anything it was that Kennedy was not someone who liked to share her things. And right now she most definitely considered Willow to be hers. She already seemed peeved with the appearance of Tara. Sitting opposite her ex at the table with her jealous lover beside her had definitely not been one of Willow's best plans.

Casually glancing up and down the table Xander breathed a soft sigh of relief. Nobody else had noticed yet…And so he discretely slid down low in his seat and jerked out a foot, aiming for Tara's shin.

"OW!" Dawn yelped indignantly. Xander froze in place. Silence reigned on the table as all eyes swivelled to Dawn, who had leaned down to rub her smarting shin. "Xander kicked me!"

"Um…Oops…" Xander gave a sheepish smile and scooted back upright. "Sorry, Dawnie, I slipped." She pouted at him

"Xander, please don't kick my sister." Buffy told him with a stern gaze.

"I'm very sorry."

"It hurt." Dawn said, definitely sulking.

"I'll buy you a chocolate brownie?" He offered. The teen immediately brightened at that.

"Okay!" She said eagerly. Xander smiled and stood up, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. As he did he caught Tara's gaze and found her looking almost grateful for the distraction he had caused. He winked at her knowingly and walked off towards the bar.

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><p>The barman wandered to the end of his bar and reached up to the short worn rope hanging beneath a large bell and knocked the clapper against the cast metal twice, signifying last orders. He then walked back along the bar to lounge against it at the opposite end and continue his conversation with the two regulars sat on stools across from him.<p>

Cat knocked back the rest of her Doom Bar and set the now empty pint glass back on the beer mat in front of her, looking apologetically at Tara.

"Hey, we should probably go…" She said softly. Tara looked sideways at her, confused. "It's getting late." She explained.

"You should totally stay here!" Dawn cried excitedly.

"Yes!" Willow piped up, and immediately cleared her throat and looked elsewhere as she felt, more than saw, Kennedy's gaze. Not before she saw the almost teasing smile Tara sent her way and started blushing too.

"Well, I'm not saying it's a bad idea…" Cat started slowly. "But we kind of paid for our own room elsewhere and… There are no vacancies here." A forlorn air settled over the group. A couple of hours was no amount of time to catch up with their long lost friend after so long.

"But we'll be back tomorrow!" Tara said quickly to try and cheer them up.

"For a full English breakfast!" Cat grinned broadly.

"And research and planning." Tara added, looking at Cat pointedly. The reaper cleared her throat and nodded vigorously.

"Absolutely."

"Well, that's sorted, then." Giles said, standing up to bid them farewell. Cat slid her legs out from beneath the table and stood, pulling her leather jacket back on as Tara scraped back her chair.

"We should probably swap cell numbers too." Dawn said as the rest of the Scoobies followed suit. "You know, in case we need to get hold of you?" Cat cocked her head to one side, looking at Dawn quizzically.

"Well, I don't have a mobile." She said. "Being a reaper's kind of a lone wolf deal. I don't actually know anyone apart from Tara. Who am I gunna call?"

"Ghostbusters!" Xander said brightly. Cat arched one eyebrow at him. "Which, um...I guess you basically are. No point in calling yourself..."

The group paused, then looked to Tara who shrugged.

"I was dead." She said by way of explaining her lack of belongings. She offered an apologetic smile.

"Oh…" Dawn replied, disheartened.

"I'll send an owl." Cat announced with a mischievous grin and received blank stares in response. She looked down awkwardly and shuffled her feet, muttering, "They do it in Harry Potter…"

"Um, anyway…" Tara said, glancing at Cat, caught somewhere in between amused and confused. "We'd best get back." She turned back to the assembled Scoobies and gave a startled 'oof!' as Dawn darted forwards to throw her arms around Tara and squeeze her tight.

"We'll miss you!" The teen announced.

"We'll be back in the morning." Tara reminded her.

"Don't care." Dawn pouted and stepped back.

"We'll be right here." Willow told her and then frowned slightly. "Obviously…" She stood awkwardly wringing her hands in front of her, not sure if she dared to hug Tara goodbye. She was acutely aware of Kennedy standing just behind and to the side of her, and of the feelings stirring within herself as she met those piercing blue eyes. She glanced away, then back again and almost melted at the warm smile she received. "Well, um…I guess this is goodbye. For tonight. Until breakfast! At half eight." She stuffed her hands into her trouser pockets and stepped backwards.

"Yep. I hear there are pancakes." Tara said with a playful smile.

"They're not as good as yours." Buffy told her.

"You make pancakes?" Cat asked eagerly.

"Yep! In funny shapes and everything!" Dawn spoke up before Tara could reply. Cat grinned at that.

"Awesome!"

The group was reluctant to part ways, even for the few hours until breakfast, but Cat eventually managed to get Tara and herself out of the door and into the cool night air. Tara pulled her jacket closer and wrapped her arms around herself as though for comfort, walking beside the reaper with her head down.

"Well, they seem nice!" Cat told her enthusiastically.

"They are." Tara replied with a half smile. They fell into a comfortable silence, Cat mulling over all the crazyness that had happened that day, Tara's mind on a particular red headed witch and her dark haired slayer.

Things were most definitely about to get a lot more interesting…

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><p><strong>AN: Had no clue how to end this chapter. Nothing felt right :S**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: You almost didn't get an update today because I got in a huff with FFnet. See, I edit the documents on here just before uploading, and I had just got to the end and hit 'save' when FFnet was like 'lol, no, you need to log in' even though I had been logged in! So I go back to the doc and it didn't save! DDDDDDDDDX**

**Aaaaaaaanyway... Can't thank you enough for the reviews/follows/faves. Those notification emails always make me smile.**

**Also, lack of sleep makes me write weird stuff XD**

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><p>It was well past sundown by the time Tara and Cat left the pub and began to head through the darkened streets back towards their own accommodation. Cat lead them towards the taxi rank she had seen in town, feeling it would be safer to speed back to the relative safety of their room than to brave the shadowy streets on foot. They made their way to the front of the queue of cars and Cat opened the rear passenger door and stepped aside for Tara to climb in first, behind the driver. Cat followed her in and pulled the door shut, greeting the driver and calling out the address of the hotel as she buckled up her seat belt. The driver nodded his head and pulled away from the curb, nosing them into the trickle of mid-week late-night traffic. As he concentrated on getting them across the roundabout and heading the right way out of town Cat turned her attention to Tara.<p>

The young Wiccan sat with her head down, body twisted to half face the window beside herself. Her shoulders were tense, and she seemed to be deep in thought. Cat felt it best to leave her to it and so instead settled back into her own seat, listening to the car radio through the barrier of clear polycarbonate separating the passengers from the driver. Those shields always made her feel like a convict being transported to a holding cell or something. She smirked at that thought and turned her head to look out of the window at the buildings passing them by as the car headed out of town.

Tara's silence continued as the taxi turned off the road and into the hotel car park. She barely seemed to register they were back.

"Here is good." Cat said to the driver, pressing the release on her seatbelt and sitting forwards to pull a handful of cash from her back pocket. The driver stopped the car and put the handbrake on and the gear stick into neutral, leaving the engine running as he reached above himself to turn on the interior light.

Tara left the vehicle and made her way to their hotel room, standing and waiting by the door as Cat had the keys.

"£8.40, then, please." Said the driver, turning in his seat to face Cat. She unfolded a ten from the notes in her hand and slid it through the gap in the screen.

"Keep the change." She said, sliding out of the car and closing the door. She crossed the car park and made her way over to Tara, stuffing her money back into one pocket, withdrawing the keys from another. She heard the taxi leave the car park and head back into town behind her. Tara stood back to let Cat unlock the door.

"Are you okay?" The reaper asked, keys paused just touching the look. She fixed Tara with a worried stare. Tara looked down, letting her hair fall across her face in a curtain, hiding behind it.

"Finey McFine." She mumbled. Cat frowned at the weird choice of words, but grunted in acceptance and unlocked the door to their room. She stepped inside and flipped the light switch on, dimly illuminating the room with an oh-so-useless energy saving light bulb, then chucked the keys onto the desk and was just about to sit on the edge of her bed to take off her boots when the sound of the door closing was promptly followed by Tara bursting into tears. Cat whipped round and stared at her. Sure, Tara had seemed pretty down and lost in her thoughts since leaving the pub, but this sudden breakdown had been entirely unexpected.

"Tara, what..?!"

"I can't go back to them!" Tara sobbed. "I can't. It hurts…It hurts me and it's killing Willow, and Kennedy?"_ Poor Kennedy…_ Tara had originally been under the impression that when she and Willow found each other again it would be a joyous occasion. Less so when she discovered Willow had moved on and found another woman. But still…

"Tara, what are you talking about?! You have to go back!" Cat was aghast. If Tara gave up then they could kiss goodbye to putting a stop to Rigel's crazy schemes. "You can't turn your back on this."

"I'm hurting her!" She had seen the turmoil in Willow's eyes. Perhaps the redhead hadn't moved on as far as Tara had first thought… Willow seemed to feel incredibly awkward about even so much as looking at Kennedy in front of Tara. She felt guilty and…more. Tara saw the familiar spark in those green eyes whenever Willow looked at her. And that seemed to pain Willow, to scare her even. And she seemed so, _so_ confused. Tara was acutely aware of the chaos her presence was causing for Willow.

"Tara!" Cat strode back across the room and gripped her upper arms. She had to talk sense into Tara. It must just be the shock of everything finally catching up with her. She waited for the taller woman to look her in the eyes. "It was never going to be easy."

"It could have been…" Tara said softly, sniffing and wiping tears from her face as she fought to get herself under control.

"No." Cat replied, releasing her and stepping back to give her some space. Tara's outburst seemed to have calmed her somewhat, as though a moment of craziness had left behind clarity. "Life isn't easy. And if you die and come back…I think that makes it twice as hard. But maybe you'll have a reward soon. I mean, like…Karma, right?" Tara took a deep breath, and offered Cat a sheepish half smile.

"Sorry… I guess I kind of lost it…"

"Nonsense." Cat shook her head, turned her back to go over to the desk and lift the kettle. "Let's say we fix this the English way, huh?" She shook the kettle at Tara and gave a playful grin. "There's nothing in this world that can't be fixed by a good strong cuppa!" She said, walking backwards into the bathroom to fill the kettle at the sink. Tara gave a short, soft laugh and got two mugs ready with teabags. "Go sit!" Cat ordered as she re-emerged with a full kettle, jabbing a finger across the room at Tara's bed.

"Cat, I'm fine." She insisted.

"Finey McFine?" Cat said, putting the kettle on its stand and jiggling it until it fell into place. "Who says that, anyway?" She rolled her eyes.

"Willow." Tara replied.

"A fine phrase if I do say so myself!" The reaper swiftly covered, flicking the switch on the kettle and turning to face Tara, who was looking at her with one eyebrow raised in amusement.

"It's okay, you know?" She said. "I know Willow comes out with some strange things. It's part of her…" She trailed off, trying to find the right word or phrase.

"Charm…?" Cat ventured softly. Tara nodded in agreement, blue eyes flicking to the kettle as it finished boiling. Cat turned and lifted it to pour water into their waiting mugs. "I don't care what people say, ya gotta drink tea from a mug. Can't get nothing in a silly little tea cup!" Tara smiled faintly, pouring milk into her mug from the little single serving milk portion. She chucked the empty pot in the bin then picked up her mug by the handle.

"I'm…Going to go outside for a minute. For air." She said, backing away from the desk as she spoke. Cat looked at her curiously, pausing in stirring her tea. "Just…Noisy thoughts." She circled one finger by her temple and Cat nodded in understanding.

"Okay, well, don't go far." She warned. Tara shook her head.

"I'll be right outside." She replied, turning and opening the door. She pulled it closed behind herself, though left it ajar so she could get back in without disturbing Cat. Cat watched suspiciously for a moment, then took her tea over to her bed, took her battered old Diskman out of her bedside cabinet and pulled on her headphones.

Outside Tara took a long slow breath in and exhaled it just as slowly. The night was chilly, and it helped to clear the fog in her mind, to calm the raging thoughts buzzing around her head and to order them. Her little cry had helped her despite also embarrassing her, to release some of the emotional build-up of the past…few days she supposed. And Cat was right, she couldn't turn her back on this simply because it was hard. Willow and Kennedy were clearly in some sort of predicament because of her, and that made her feel terrible, but there were more people in the group than those two. Buffy for one, who had often come to Tara for support, and poor Dawn… Giles who had always been such a great father figure (which was good considering her own father sucked), and Xander, goofy but brave, a brilliant friend.

She wrapped both hands around her mug, enjoying the warmth from the hot tea seeping through the ceramic to warm her hands against the cool air. The night sky was clear, the stars shining as well as they could through the city lights. With a chill she realized she could see Orion the hunter shining high above, Rigel burning bright at the end of his leg. She dropped her gaze to the steam curling up from her tea. Willow had attempted to teach her constellations but that hadn't gone especially well. Orion and The Plough were pretty much the only ones she could identify with any certainty. Moose Getting a Sponge Bath and Little Pile o' Crackers were much easier.

Now that she and Cat and the Scoobies were together, it was sort of like old times. Fighting the good fight with her friends. Not that she did much fighting in the traditional sense… Now that she thought about it, despite her little outburst (or perhaps because of it?), she was looking forwards to getting back to the pub in the morning and not just because she would get to see Willow again. She wanted to help, and she wanted to do that with her friends.

She lifted her mug of tea to her lips to take a sip, still lost in thoughts of her friends, when she gradually became aware of loud singing from behind her. She frowned and turned, pushing the door open further to peek inside the hotel room and was greeted by the sight of Cat dancing around the room belting out whatever song was being relayed through her headphones in between stuffing Jaffa Cakes into her mouth from the blue and orange box she held in one hand.

"Cat, what…?" Tara started and the reaper froze in place, still as a statue with one foot held up in the air. Tara couldn't help but laugh, and Cat promptly put her foot down and dragged her headphones back so they hung about her neck.

"Wha-at?" She demanded. Tara bit her lip to get her giggles under control and raised one eyebrow playfully.

"So, Linkin Park, huh?" She asked. Cat shrugged and stuffed another Jaffa Cake in her mouth.

"I fink I ushed t' like 'em afore I died." She spoke round her food. Tara entered the room properly and closed the door behind her. "Jaffa Cake?" Cat offered the box, but Tara shook her head and instead sat cross legged on her bed with her tea. Cat swallowed and followed suit across the room on her own bed. "I forgot how much I love these. I mean, what sort of a country doesn't have Jaffa Cakes?" She looked almost accusingly at Tara. "You guys are seriously missing out. Hey, check this out!" She pulled out a Jaffa Cake with a grin and held it between thumb and forefinger out towards Tara, showing her a full circle. "Full moon!" She bit it in half. "Half moon!" Stuffed the lot in her mouth and spread her hands. "Total eclipse!"

"Wow…Um…" Tara frowned at her and laughed.

"It's an advert!"

"Sure. Okay." Tara replied and drank her tea, seriously considering asking Cat to go on a sugar and caffeine-free diet.

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><p>The room was warm and quiet, soothing. Kennedy had lit a couple of candles bought the previous day in an attempt to make it feel more relaxing, sensing Willow was quite highly strung after the day's events. She brought a lavender scented pillar candle over to the bed, the flame flickering from the movement, and set it down on Willow's bedside table. The redhead smiled gratefully, sat at her pillow with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her hair was still damp from the shower she had taken in an attempt to wind down after Tara had left. Kennedy crossed the room and flicked off the main light, leaving on the light in the bathroom so that the room was only dimly lit.<p>

"Better?" She asked, and Willow nodded, watching the candle beside herself. Already the room was filled with the calming scent of lavender and vanilla.

"Much." She murmured. Still, it did nothing to quiet the storm in her mind. She felt the mattress dip beside her as Kennedy sat on the edge.

"Kinda romantic, huh?" The slayer asked playfully.

"I guess." Willow answered vaguely. Kennedy reached out and rubbed the back of her girlfriend's shoulder comfortingly.

"Did you want to talk about it?" She asked gently, expression serious. Willow sighed and tore her gaze away from the candle, and leaned her shoulders back against the wall.

"I don't know." She stated. Kennedy nodded her head.

"Okay." She said. "That's okay."

"I just…don't _know_." Willow continued. "I feel like everything I thought was real has been turned on its head and I just don't know anymore. I get that it's not like my whole life has been a lie, but it kinda feels like it is, ya know?" Kennedy didn't know, but knew better than to say so. "Like, I went crazy and tried to destroy the world because Tara died and then there was the whole healing process and I finally got some sort of closure and now she's not actually dead and she's just down the road and then we bump into each other and it's all like 'oh, hey, I'm not dead!' and I mean, what?! How do you deal with that?" She paused for breath. Kennedy bit her lower lip and was about to answer when Willow started talking again. "I know Buffy came back to life, but that was different. We planned that. I _did_ that. I brought her back to life. But this is just a little bit too much right now. I mean, it's _Tara_. It's Tara…" She murmured her ex lover's name softly, almost reverently.

Kennedy bristled slightly, feeling jealousy settle in her gut at the way her girlfriend said that name. She knew she shouldn't, that it was stupid to get jealous. Willow was just trying to work things out. And that's what this babble was: working things out. Though now Willow had an anxious look on her face.

"What is it?" Kennedy asked. Willow looked down at her knees and heaved a sigh.

"I know I shouldn't…" She began slowly, and Kennedy sensed she wasn't going to like the rest of this sentence, "but I feel bad. I think seeing us together is hurting Tara." Kennedy had sensed right.

"Well, she did kind of die." She pointed out. Willow looked at her sharply. "What? She did! I'm sure she understands that you got over it and you found the awesomeness that is me."

"Kennedy, can't you at least try and be a bit sympathetic?"

"I am!"

"Imagine how you would feel in her place."

"I don't think I'm the best example…" Kennedy said, raising one eyebrow. Willow frowned softly.

"Why not?"

"Well…" Kennedy said slowly. "I'd totally go and beat her ass up. I'm kind of a brat, remember?" She grinned broadly, earning a small smile from Willow. "Now that's sorted out…" Kennedy shuffled closer, pushing on Willow's knees to make room for intimate snuggles. Willow, however, had other ideas. She pushed Kennedy away.

"Not now, Kennedy…" She said, looking away from the slayer. Kennedy pouted playfully and tried again.

"Aw, come on, Will…"

"I said not now." Willow snapped, causing Kennedy's dark eyes to flash angrily as she pulled back. "My dead girlfriend isn't so dead anymore. I'm a little shook up, so I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood!"

"Right." Kennedy twisted away and leaped to her feet and started to change out of pyjamas and back into her day clothes. She had seen Willow and Tara making moon eyes at each other all night, the little inadvertent touches. It was driving her up the wall already.

"Where are you going?" Willow asked.

"Patrolling." Kennedy said gruffly, shoving a stake into her belt and narrowly missing impaling her butt on the business end. Willow winced. "To leave you with thoughts of _Tara_." She spat the name out as though it tasted bad in her mouth, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind herself, leaving Willow to gape after her.

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><p><strong>AN: Okay so I know Kennedy seems harsh but I think it feels right. I love her and she's one of my favourite characters and, while I am a huge Willow/Tara fan, I liked her with Willow. But she really is a brat :P**

**Also, for those of you who think I'm mental… Look up the Jaffa Cakes full moon advert ;)**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Late update today because I've been way busy and preoccupied and stuff...Absolutley knackered so if I've missed any mistakes or something doesn't make sense...sorry! Trying to do a quick update so I can go to bed (relatively) early (for me) because I'm up early for a hospital appointment to hopefully find out what's wrong with me! Whoop whoop!**

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><p>Kennedy had been out patrolling until the first smudge of rose appeared on the horizon and the birds began to brightly chirp their dawn chorus. That was when she had turned around and started back towards <em>The<em> _Horn Inn_, thoughtfully spinning a wooden stake in her palm. That night had been…fruitless. She hadn't come across so much as a freshly risen vampire. And in a town so large that was odd. It had, however, left her with hours of time alone with only her thoughts for company. She had at first been raging through the streets, furious with Willow for brushing her off and with Tara Maclay for getting in the way and, you know what? That idiot reaper too for bringing Tara back from the dead and screwing up Willow. Things had been going so well and now a recently dead woman had wedged herself between Kennedy and the object of her affections in just a handful of hours and caused an argument.

As the hours passed the anger bubbled down to simple annoyance and lame excuses. Perhaps she had been wrong to leave the room so explosively, but how was it fair for Willow to take out her Tara issues on Kennedy? All the slayer had been trying to do was wind down after a long day and pre-sleepy time shenanigans were the tried and tested way to do so. As far as she could see she had every right to get angry and storm off. Willow had to understand that there were two people in this relationship…

…There were two people in this relationship. Kennedy had to understand. Two people. Not one. Willow had just had the shock of her life, she needed a supportive girlfriend, not a spoilt brat. The things she must be going through, Kennedy couldn't even begin to comprehend.

As a slayer, it was widely accepted that death was her gift. She knew death well. Not as well as Tara or Buffy, granted, but still, she knew it. Life, however, was another ball game entirely. She hadn't known Tara, had never loved her, never felt her death. And so her sudden reappearance had no bearing on Kennedy.

The dark haired slayer heaved a sigh, kicked at a bottle cap as she passed. It clinked softly as it bounced and rolled across the road. The only sound save the brightly singing birds and Kennedy's heavy boots on the pavement. She dragged her feet, rubber soles scraping the concrete pavement, and scowled at the ground, more angry at herself now than anything. Willow had made her into a better person, or so she thought. She had grown up fast fighting against the First while other girls fought and died around her, but apparently she was still a brat at heart, lashing out at anyone and everyone around herself when things didn't go according to plan. When having what she wanted suddenly became threatened.

Kennedy frowned. Was Tara a threat…? No. Willow had closed that door already. She was sure of it. Tara's sudden and head-spinningly unexpected return had simply confused Willow. That Kennedy perceived Tara as a threat was perfectly natural. That's what happened when your lover's ex turned up-everything got awkward and someone inevitably got jealous. In this case it was Kennedy who was the jealous one. She didn't know why though. Tara seemed a bit boring.

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><p>Willow stirred from her restless sleep as she heard the door to the room click quietly closed. The edge of the bed dipped as a weight settled on it, springs creaked, and she could just make out Kennedy's outline in the faint early morning light filtering through the closed curtains. One boot was removed from her foot and carefully placed on the floor, then the second, and Kennedy stood up again to strip down to her underwear. Willow thought about telling her to go away, still annoyed about the slayer's strop earlier that night, but after spending the hours since then caught between a state of shock courtesy of Tara, and hurt and anger thanks to Kennedy, she decided she would actually prefer to share the bed for the few hours left until they had to get up for breakfast. Some form of comfort that night would be nice. Especially after her brain had decided it would be fun to replay Tara's final moments in Sunnydale over and over.<p>

As Kennedy turned from folding her clothes in the corner and went to get into the bed Willow lifted the covers for her. Kennedy paused in surprise, having not realized Willow was awake, then climbed into bed and shimmied up close. Willow dropped the duvet over them both and tucked her head beneath Kennedy's head.

"Morning." The slayer said softly, testing the waters. Willow may be cuddling up to her but she could still be in trouble.

"No." Willow replied just as quietly, voice gravelly from sleepiness. "'s not mornin' 'til the sun's up properly."

"Okay." Kennedy said and was quiet a moment, then: "'m sorry…" Mumbled very quietly and sheepishly. Willow had to smile. Kennedy hated to admit she was wrong, and an apology was an admission of such. She gave her slayer's shoulder a fond rub.

"'kay. Sleep now." She murmured. Kennedy responded with a loud yawn.

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><p>"We don't have to do this." Cat said, looking up at Tara stood beside her. She shifted the heavy plastic bag in her right hand over to her left and flexed her right fingers to get the blood flowing again. In the bag she had stuffed all of the printouts she and Tara had collected from the library research session in the hope that the group would blitz through it much faster than she and Tara had been doing, and zero in on anything useful. "We can go back." They had taken the bus into town and were now stood at one end of the street looking down towards the pub in which the Scoobies would soon be sitting down to breakfast right about now. They had been stood there for several minutes now since Tara had hesitated and stopped moving. "Or, you could go back and I could go in and tell them…" she paused while groping for an excuse. "...You got sick or something?"<p>

"It's…It's fine." Tara said, taking a deep breath. She felt nervous. Meeting up with everyone again today made it all seem that much more… real. "It's just a bit weird, you know?" She asked. "Everything's different… So much happened while I was gone."

"Such is life." Cat told her, looking sympathetic. Tara nodded and began to slowly make her way along the pavement with her arms crossed over her chest, eyes on the ground.

"Willow tried to end the world." She still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that, clearly Willow had a much darker side that she had ever dreamed possible in such a sweet woman.

"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna piss her off." Cat agreed. Tara frowned disapprovingly at her.

"And then she went through this whole…recovery." She continued. "And then there's the whole…First Evil thing and…they saved the world _again_ and made all potential slayers into…slayer slayers. So much has happened. How can I just walk in there and act like nothing's changed?"

"I don't know." Cat shrugged her shoulders. "Let's find out." She hopped over the low brick wall enclosing the car park of the pub and grinned at Tara. The young Wiccan stopped and looked up, seemingly surprised to see the building there already. "Come on. They've seen us." Cat looked at her, amused, and gestured with one hand for her to follow. Tara stepped over the wall and made her way after the reaper across the tarmac and into the pub.

Cat stepped inside and held the heavy door open for her. The bar was empty save for Buffy and co who had taken over a corner of the room and pushed a couple of tables together so everyone could sit with each other. A man wearing a black T-shirt and faded blue jeans poked his head out of the kitchen door to see who had entered the pub, decided they didn't need help, and disappeared again, the door swinging shut behind him.

"Hi!" Dawn called brightly and hopped up as Cat followed Tara over to the table. Tara smiled fondly at the littlest Summers' enthusiasm.

"Morning." She replied, nodding a greeting to the others. She dropped into the seat beside Dawn, scooted her chair in and smiled almost shyly at the group. Willow grinned at her enthusiastically, then tried to tone her reaction down and act calm as Kennedy was sat right next to her.

"We brought some stuff to go through." Cat said, hefting her carrier bag stuffed with a wad of paper before dumping it beside Xander and taking the chair next to him.

"Oh yay! Research!" He clapped his hands together with fake excitement. "Because we haven't done enough already!" He shot Cat a playful glare to which the reaper responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, considering we're no closer to finding the Hellmouth, no, we haven't done enough." Giles raised a mug of tea and sipped, found it too hot and lowered the mug back to the table, ignoring the scowl sent his way by the one-eyed man.

"We could try interrogating demons if we could find any." Buffy grumbled. "Is England a demon-free zone or something?" She looked at Giles, sat beside her.

"Far from it."

"That's what I thought." She sighed and stared morosely at the table.

"Even the vamps are AWOL now." Kennedy added. "And the ones we could have beat up for info we kind of…dusted before we realized we'd really need them."

"Sometimes the bad guys go to ground before something big happens." Dawn told Cat as the reaper was looking lost.

"I'd have thought something like this would be happy days for them." Cat replied.

"Yeah, but some of the things that come out of the Hellmouth are bad even for the bad guys." Buffy explained. "Especially for vampires. They're not so high and mighty as they like to think. Soon as a big bad turns up they're outta here. It's kinda like animals running away before an earthquake or tsunami."

"Oh…"

"So no demons isn't actually such a good thing." Tara looked like she couldn't quite believe the words leaving her mouth, despite knowing it to be true.

"And there's not even a _Willy's Place_ here to scope out." Buffy grumbled.

"Demon bar." Willow clarified for the reaper's sake.

"Well, yeah, nothing like that's going to turn up on TripAdvisor is it?" Cat said. "Maybe we're wasting our time looking specifically for the Hellmouth. Maybe we should all set our sights a little lower first, try and find a meeting place for demons, like your bar?" She gestured to Buffy. "Or maybe The Powers could send another vision to show us where the Hellmouth is?" She looked up towards the ceiling as though directing her words towards The Powers That Be. "'Cause that would be awesome… Anything? …No? Okay."

"Why don't we head back to that magic shop?" Kennedy suggested, looking at Willow.

"Magic shop?" Tara asked curiously. Kennedy turned her dark gaze to Tara, while winding one arm around Willow's shoulders.

"Yeah, me and Will found it while out the other day. It's-"

"It's just like _The Magic Box_!" Willow interrupted Kennedy excitedly, beaming across the table at Tara and practically bouncing in her chair. "You'll love it! And that's a great idea." She grinned at Kennedy, whose expression had darkened at the interruption. Willow didn't seem to notice. "We can ask if they know anything, bribe them for tips. I'll be good cop and you can be bad cop!"

"Or we could just… ask." Tara teased. Without thinking she reached across the table to squeeze Willow's hand fondly. Almost as though in retaliation Kennedy dropped a kiss atop her girlfriend's head and possessively tightened the arm around her shoulders.

"Yep, or that." Willow replied, shrugging off Kennedy's arm and standing up with a menu in hand. She looked flustered from the attentions of the two most important women in her life, confused. "I'm going to order breakfast now." She said loudly and hurried over to the bar where there was a little brass bell to signal for assistance. She banged her hand down on it rapidly until the barman re-emerged from the kitchens.

"No coffee!" Buffy called after her playfully.

Tara could feel Kennedy's dark eyes burning into her across the table. She tore her gaze from Willow and kept her eyes fixed firmly on the table in front of her.

* * *

><p>Cat had expected perhaps a little awkwardness from the Scoobies while Tara re-integrated herself into the group, but she saw now she was wrong. Breakfast was all but forgotten as the friends laughed and joked and chatted, catching up but steering well clear of discussing the Wiccan's short brush with death. Though perhaps that wasn't entirely surprising as Buffy had died previously after all. In a way the group was used to it.<p>

Dawn was eager to tell Tara about all the awesome things she had been up to (like fighting with a sword in the final battle of Sunnydale and saving Xander's life like a pro) while Buffy proudly backed her up and Xander insisted he had been just as heroic especially considering he had less eyes than Dawn. Giles assured Tara that everyone's actions were deserving of merit and swiftly changed the subject.

As Cat watched the to-ing and fro-ing of the conversation she was feeling more and more like an intruder. She had brought Tara back to life, brought her back to her friends. Now all that was needed was for the reaper to seal the Hellmouth and then she was done. Tara would return to life with her friends, Cat would go back to being a reaper, aiding souls, averting crisis.

Fighting the good fight (admittedly from the side-lines, this was her first potential apocalypse) alone had never been a problem before. But now she was growing accustomed to having someone around that she could talk to, someone that needed protecting from the big bad, someone that intended to help her fight said big bad. She didn't like the idea of giving that up.

She noticed, then, Willow and Tara share a shy look across the table. They had been doing that periodically, sneaking looks, blushing when they caught each other out. It was amusing the reaper greatly, but Kennedy had seen a couple of times and would scowl at the oblivious Wiccans whenever it happened. This time the slayer decided to take a more direct approach and turned Willow's head to plant a firm kiss on her lips. Tara politely averted her gaze, while Willow became agitated and looked like she might flee the table again.

Cat sent the petty slayer a cold look, less than impressed with the latest form of retaliation. Couldn't she at least try to understand? Tara had been in a relationship when she died, as far as her mind was concerned, it had never ended!

"Cat!" Willow cried so suddenly the reaper jumped in her seat, startled. "Tell me about that spell you mentioned yesterday!" She attempted to discretely create some distance between Kennedy and herself, awkward about being coupley in front of Tara.

Cat leaned back from the table as a waiter approached to clear away the empty plates. She waited for him to leave, carrying everything into the kitchen, before looking back to Willow and asking, "Spell?"

"You know, with the sword and the imbuing…" Willow leaned her elbows on the table and folded her arms, sitting forwards eager to learn more.

"Oooh, yeah." Cat replied, remembering then, having briefly mentioned last night the spell she and Tara had struggled with. "Well, basically, I think the idea is to channel a load of energy into my sword so I can shove it in the Hellmouth lock thing without the blade just breaking, and then the blade transfers the magic into the gateway and seals it."

"You think?" Kennedy repeated, looking dismayed. "So you don't know?" Cat shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"Well…Yeah. It's not something I've ever done before."

"What's the spell?" Willow asked. Cat shrugged, and then recited it off the top of her head. Willow looked thoughtful for a moment. "Can you write it down?"

"Sure." Cat nodded and reached into the plastic bag she had brought along with her to pull out a sheet of paper with a wiki page printed on one side. She turned it over to the blank side and fished about in her bag again for a pen, then realized she had forgotten to bring one. She sat back up and looked at Willow. "Got a pen?"

"No…" Willow admitted.

"Then I can't write it down."

"I'll go grab a pen!" Willow hopped to her feet and was about to dash off up to her room when Giles stopped her by calling her name.

"Could you bring the books down?" He asked, standing and searching in his trouser pocket for the keys to his room. Willow hurried back over, grabbed the keys, and rushed off again. Cat reached down and pulled her findings out of the plastic bag, dumped the heavy stack of paper on the table with a dull _whump_.

Willow rushed back into the bar and skidded to a halt beside Giles with a pile of books in her arms and a Biro held between her teeth. She handed over the books (which Giles set at his elbow, taking the first one and opening it) then moved back to her end of the table, sat, and handed over the pen. Cat gingerly held it at one end, eyeing it suspiciously.

"Thanks…"

"I didn't get any spit on it." Willow said haughtily. Cat's eyes flicked to the redhead, back to the pen. Then she uncapped it and started to write, scribbling down the incantation on the back of her printout in an untidy scrawl.

"I heard it in my vision and it stuck in my mind. Which I guess it's designed to do, I mean, it'd be pointless sending me a vision if I couldn't remember it." She sat back and read through what she had written. Satisfied, she handed the paper over to Willow, who took it and read and felt her heart skip a beat.

"No way?!" Before anyone could question the odd reaction, she had lunged across the table and snatched the book out of a bewildered Giles' hands, and promptly began to flick through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She looked at the book, then at Cat's scribbles, green eyes going wide, eyebrows seeking her hairline. The table went quiet, all eyes on Willow.

Willow flipped the book and held it out to Cat, who curiously reached out and took the book from her, reading the column of script running down one page.

"Oh…" She said after a moment. "That's…it." She looked up, met Willow's gaze, then Tara's. "That's the spell."

"And there's your problem!" Willow exclaimed. "Even I wouldn't be able to do it alone." She looked at Cat. "It's meant to be done with two people."

"The Powers always leave out the important information." The reaper muttered, handing the book back.

"What's it say?" Buffy asked when no one explained.

"Just that it's a powerful spell for two casters to lock a mystical door." Willow said, green eyes darting from line to line across the pages. "No name, no special requirements…It's so vague."

"Well, hey, you and Tara used to do magic together all the time, right?" Xander asked. Cat sniggered.

"That sounds kinda kinky." She said before she could stop herself and an awkward silence settled over the table. Tara ducked her head to hide behind a curtain of hair, cheeks tinged pink, as Cat squirmed under the glare Kennedy shot her way.

"So!" Xander said loudly. "Maybe The Powers wanted us all here so you two could do that?" He pointed at the book in Willow's hands.

"That's…Actually a very good point." Giles said slowly.

"Try not to sound too surprised." Xander told him. Giles cleared his throat and looked down, removing his glasses and checking the lenses for imaginary smudges.

"I wasn't." He said, using the handkerchief in his pocket to clean them.

"Well…Why me?" Tara asked, raising her head again and meeting several baffled looks. "Willow's…_so_ strong. And there are any number of powerful Wiccans out there that could be chosen. Why go to all the trouble of bringing me back when they could just choose anyone?"

"I don't think it's just about a joining of power." Cat said after a moment's consideration. "Yeah, two people amp each other's strength while casting. …Or so I've heard. Not so great on the magic front." She grinned, and received a 'go on' look from Tara. "It's about a _connection_. A skilled caster can join with anyone, but I think to create something with real power, the kind you probably need to close the Hellmouth like this, you need a connection, and that's what you guys have. It's not just joining strength. It's hearts and souls and minds. You two," she wagged a finger between Willow and Tara, who looked from Cat to each other and back again, "are not just connected physically and emotionally. Your bond goes deeper. It's…I don't know…Spiritual? Maybe…" The group remained quiet as they mulled that over. Cat cleared her throat and shrugged, looking down at the table and fiddling with a stray bread crumb. "Anyway, that's what I think. Your connection, plus two slayers, a watcher, a reaper and some kickarse buddies. That's gotta be worth betting on for a win. Right?"


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: You guys are lucky I've peeled myself away from Dragon Age: Inquisition long enough to get this up XD In other news, I am possibly fixed! Awww yeah! Just been taken off my meds I've been on every day for the past 8 years which is...interesting...ignoring the blinding headaches...**

**Anyway, this chapter is a bit crazy, but I like the way it turned out, and I hope you do too! :P**

* * *

><p><em>The Horn Inn<em> had gained a few patrons over the course of the Scoobies' breakfast. A family sat in a corner booth across the bar from them, guests of the pub, and a couple of men had entered from outside to sit at the bar. Music played softly from speakers mounted high up in each corner of the room.

Cat hunched forwards in her chair, folding her arms on the table and looking down its length at the assembled group.

"I was thinking…" She began slowly. "You guys mentioned interrogating demons and stuff." She looked between Buffy and Kennedy, who nodded. Kennedy motioned impatiently with one hand for her to continue. "Well, reapers can commune with the dead. So I was thinking maybe...I could do like a séance or something?" Even Cat sounded uncertain about this. "Ask the spirits for help. Finding the Hellmouth, or finding Rigel, or…something."

"Well, sure." Willow said encouragingly, even looking excited about it. "We could help."

Cat shook her head and looked down at the table.

"No, it's not like that." She replied. "If _you_ do a séance you can only ask for a spirit to appear and hope for the best. When I do it, they _have_ to obey. I have to do this myself. But, um…If you could stand by in case of drama that'd be awesome."

"If you can do that, why have you only just thought of it?" Kennedy asked, sounding more than a little irked.

"It's not nice." Cat scowled at her tone. "The spirits on this plane are here because they can't pass on without help for whatever reason. They're having a pretty crap time, and then I come along like 'oh, get ya butt over here, I want you to help me, and no, you don't have a choice.' That's just harsh. I can't just _use_ spirits simply because I'm able to. They're not power-boosting, info-giving commodities just because they died, they're _people_." Not to mention using spirits as such was only a few steps behind the detestable things Rigel had no qualms in inflicting on them. The only other option was to locate one by sight and ask for aid, but she hadn't seen any around the city for a while now. It were almost as though they had followed the demons into hiding, which wasn't something she had ever seen before. "But we kind of need it now..." Researching the normal way was getting them no where fast.

"I don't think etiquette has a place when trying to avoid Hell on earth." Kennedy's tone was almost glacial. Here was a reaper with some nifty tricks to halt an apocalypse, refusing to use them because of morals.

"That's okay!" Willow said quickly to avert a potential argument.

"Is there anything you need?" Buffy asked Cat. "You know, like a…magic circle. Or something."

"For _if_ you want to do it." Willow hastily added, not wanting to push Cat into magics the reaper wasn't comfortable with. Such as unfairly bending the dead to her will.

"A few things."

"Looks like we're definitely going to that magic shop, then." Tara told Willow with a lopsided smile. Willow grinned broadly at her, glad Tara seemed to share her enthusiasm for the place.

Kennedy noted the interaction between the ex-lovers and clamped a hand down over Willow's on the table as though to remind everyone she and the red headed Wiccan were an item.

"I didn't know ghosts could…power-boost." Dawn said after a moment's silence. She frowned, brow furrowed in confusion, and turned her gaze to Cat. "What does that even mean?"

"Oh, well…" Cat twisted in her chair to face Dawn, though the rest of the group showed interest in the explanation as well. "Reapers possess quite a few…abilities, I suppose you could say. Most are to do with dealing with the dead. Some are not so nice, like taking a spirit and warping it into a demon that can suck the life out of you and using that energy to fuel themselves. And… like those demons, reapers can do the same thing. Absorb the energy from the living and the dead to boost our own powers, either given willingly or taken by force."

"Oh… Wow…" Dawn looked down at the table, unnerved.

"So, what you're saying is…" Kennedy said slowly. "Is that you could use a spirit to ramp up your powers and kick Rigel's butt?" She fixed Cat with a steady stare. The reaper swallowed, licked her lips nervously.

"Yes."

"Then why the Hell don't you?!" Kennedy snapped, slamming a palm down on the table top in frustration.

"Hey!" Tara cried. "Back off!"

"How about no? She has a secret weapon and she's not using it!" Kennedy gestured wildly, garnering more than a few curious stares from the other patrons in the bar.

"That sounds like a pretty useful skill." Buffy told Cat, arching one eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it's…bad."

"But it could give us an edge against your buddy." Xander pressed.

"No." Cat said firmly. "Don't ask that of me. I can't just waltz up to someone and leech their strength."

"But if it wins the fight…"

"Would you be so pleased if I took yours? Willow's? Tara's? Dawn's?"

Dawn squirmed awkwardly in her chair, glancing sideways at Cat as the reaper fixed them each in turn with a cold stare.

"What if it was given freely?" Tara questioned, remembering her accidental transferal of power a couple of days earlier.

"And who would do that?" Cat asked. "It would leave one of you weak. Maybe out cold."

"I agree we may need everyone's strength," Giles began.

"I'm not a vampire." Cat cut across him angrily. Giles raised a hand, nodding his head slightly to show he agreed with her.

"But I do think it would be wise to consider all of our options. I'm not asking you to _do_ this-"

"I have standards."

"-Just acknowledge that if it comes to it then it may be our last hope."

"That's fair." Cat grudgingly agreed. Kennedy rolled her eyes, earning herself a nudge from Willow.

"What? It's like you suddenly deciding you're not going to use your magic because you have morals."

"It has been known." Willow muttered uncomfortably, which, of course, Kennedy knew, but had never really seemed to grasp.

"Kennedy, let it go." Buffy said. "Right now we don't even know if we'll need it. There's all of us against one reaper."

"Whatever." Kennedy shrugged and sighed, shaking her head as though she couldn't believe the idiocy of those around her. Which she couldn't. She looked at Willow. "You did it to me and we're fine."

"Let it go!"

Willow sighed and leaned her head in her palm sensing this could go on a while. She caught Tara's eyes across the table and had to grin at the sloped smirk shot her way, quietly rebellious. She knew Tara would never really openly taunt someone but a raised eyebrow, a mischievous smile, a playful look was all Willow needed to know her mind.

That grin faltered when Kennedy apparently decided they all needed reminding once more who Willow was dating by pressing kisses beneath Willow's ear that bordered on socially unacceptable.

Tara politely looked away.

Willow's eyes widened and she twisted away from her girlfriend, up and out of her chair.

"Need, uh, some air." She stammered and all but ran to the front doors of the pub, heading out into the car park.

"Oh, for the love of-!" Kennedy leaped to her feet and stormed across the bar to leave through the side door.

"I'll just, um…" Tara stood up and pointed vaguely in the direction Willow had gone. Without waiting for an acknowledgement from the others she hurried off. The group watched her shove open the door and step outside. As the door swung closed they all exchanged a look.

"Well, that was awkward!" Xander announced after a beat.

"Let us pretend nothing happened…" Giles replied, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, sighing and closing his eyes.

"You are so British." Buffy told him, and received a look from both Giles and Cat.

* * *

><p>Willow was stood in an empty corner of the car park with her back to the main building, out of sight of the windows and facing the road. Her shoulders were tense, arms firmly crossed over her chest. Definitely sulking. Still, Tara knew how to deal with this Willow, so she hurried across the tarmac over to the redhead and stood beside her, looking anxiously into her face. Green eyes flicked up to meet hers, confused.<p>

"Hi…" Willow said softly.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked.

"Oh…" Willow heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, bringing up one hand to cover her face. "Yep. Fine. Absolutely fine. A little humiliated, but…" She shook her head and opened her eyes to look at Tara, letting her hand fall to her side. "She's not normally like this, you know?" Tara opened her mouth to assure Willow she herself was fine, just worried for the redhead, but Willow ploughed on without letting her speak. "I mean, sure, she's a little pushy at times, a little hard to handle, but…" She trailed off again and deflated a little. "I'm sorry."

"Well, actually, um… I think it might be my fault." Tara awkwardly wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked down at the ground, only raising her eyes when she felt Willow looking at her, clearly miffed. Tara cleared her throat and glanced away again. "I think she might be, um, s-staking her territory, maybe?" She risked a peek at Willow, worried her statement might annoy her.

"Oh…" Was all she said. And deflated a little more. That sort of made sense. She had never discussed Tara with Kennedy, not really. It was too painful, caused her heart to ache and her throat to close. And a little part of her always felt somewhat guilty about letting Tara go to be with someone else. She knew she shouldn't, she hadn't done anything wrong. But still, there it was.

And now here Tara was, back from the dead and full of life. Kennedy must know the impact this shy Wiccan had had on Willow, she must feel threatened. Maybe even a little resentful. After all, Willow knew her girlfriend wasn't that great at sharing. Didn't like the idea someone might take away something (or someone) she felt was hers.

Willow gulped and looked sideways at Tara. Would Tara try to take her back? Would Willow let her? She quickly looked away as she met that steady blue gaze. The one she loved. Past, present, and future. And suddenly she became still. She loved Tara. Did she love Kennedy? Truly?

She felt her palms sweat as her heart rate picked up. She shuffled her feet and took a deep breath to calm herself, feeling her world start to shift on its axis again, turning itself on its head. Why couldn't life ever be simple?

"I-I should go." She heard Tara say from beside her.

"What? No! Stay!" Willow grabbed Tara's shirt sleeve to stop her from leaving, as Tara began to move away. She had sensed her presence was causing Willow more harm than good, knew Willow must be having some internal crisis, trying to get over the shock of her dead girlfriend turning up alive and well.

Tara halted in her tracks and looked down at Willow's hand, at the material bunched in her fist. Willow followed her gaze and hastily let go, smoothing down the sleeve.

"Sorry…"

"It's okay." Tara was quick to reassure. "I just…I feel like I'm…upsetting you, and Kennedy, and I should go. To make it better." She looked down at her feet, uncertain, wringing her hands in front of her as she spoke. "Just stay at the hotel and help from there."

"I don't think I'd like that." Willow said with a soft smile. She turned to face Tara, taking her hands to still them, squeezing softly. She waited for Tara to look up before continuing. "I'm not upset, I'm just…" Lost. She had forgotten how Tara's hands felt in her own, so smooth and warm and… Why was Tara looking at her like that…?

Tara, brushed her thumbs against Willow's fingers, giving her what she hoped was an encouraging look.

"You're just…?" She prompted.

"Right." Willow had completely lost her train of thought. "Confused." That was putting it mildly. "Because you died." She immediately winced. That was harsh. "Sorry…"

"No, that's true." Tara said fairly. "I was dead. And now I'm not. I'm confused too."

"I think everyone is."

"I feel bad."

"Don't feel bad. I'm happy too. We! _We_ are happy."

Tara gave a lopsided smile.

"So am I." She said, watching Willow intently. There was no use in hiding who she was most pleased to see.

Willow blushed faintly under Tara's gaze and looked away, down at their hands, still entwined. She had forgotten how intense those soft blue eyes could be, and felt momentarily disheartened. How could she forget something like that?

Tara shuffled closer, trying to get Willow to look up again, worried she had said the wrong thing as she felt the redhead's mood shift.

"So… I should stay?" She asked. Willow tipped her head back to stare straight into deep blue and couldn't help a wide smile.

"Aha." She mumbled distractedly. "Definitely."

Tara angled her head as she felt Willow inch closer, eyes fluttering closed in anticipation. They both seemed to be gravitating towards each other and at the back of her mind Tara knew it was a bad idea. But that part of her mind was currently being overridden by more instinctual things. Things that would probably get them both into a world of trouble with Kennedy, who- Kennedy!

Tara's eyes flew open just as the pub door swung open and banged closed behind them and heavy boots crunched on loose gravel, then came to a standstill a few metres behind them.

Willow and Tara leaped apart as though hit with an electrical charge and whirled in time to see Xander slap a hand over his eyes.

"I saw nothing!" He said quickly. Tara pressed her fingers to her lips, one arm crossing over her chest as she turned away from both Xander and Willow, clearly embarrassed. Willow looked between Xander and Tara, mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. Her cheeks felt hot and flushed and she gestured wildly, trying now to say several things at once.

Xander peeked between his fingers and saw Willow close her mouth and take a deep breath to try speaking again.

"Why are you here?" She asked finally, voice coming out an octave or two higher than usual.

"Well, I was coming to make sure you're all right, but I see everything's going fine out here." He gave Willow a cheeky grin. The resultant glare made him clear his throat and shift his feet nervously. He realized the situation was most definitely not of the funny. "Xander go now." He told her and turned back to the building to scurry back inside.

"Wait!" Willow called. Xander turned back and gave her an awkward smile.

"See no evil, speak no evil." He replied. Willow gave him a grateful look and he hurried back inside before he could get himself into trouble.

As Xander entered the bar he stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets and tried to arrange his features into a carefree smile. However he had been outside less than a minute and witnessing a potential smoochie between his best friend and her 'ex' disturbed him considering the carnage that could ensue should Kennedy find out.

His friends were not fooled.

"Is something wrong…?" Giles asked, giving him an odd look. Xander realized his fake 'carefree smile' looked more like a nervous grimace.

"No. Why? Should it be?" He demanded, pulling back his chair and dropping into it. He rubbed his hands on his jeans, feeling his palms sweat. Everyone was looking at him and it put him on edge. "Willow's fine. Tara's with her." He said. "Talking! They're just talking."

"Okay…" Buffy said slowly. "Would they be doing something else, then?"

"No!" Xander cried. "Why would you even suggest that?"

"I didn't suggest any-"

"Okay! Let's just get on with Cat's research." Xander spread out the papers Cat had printed across the table, missing the confused looks exchanged between Buffy, Giles, and Dawn. "Where is Cat, anyway?"

"She went to check on Kennedy." Dawn said, flicking through one of Giles' books. Xander grunted in response and picked up a print out of the city map to study.

* * *

><p>Cat stood just outside the side entrance of the pub. Here a narrow strip of tarmac lead from the car park up front to a small square round back that hid the bins and staff car park. Her keen ears picked up Willow and Tara around the front having some sort of awkward conversation, and then the scuffing of rubber treads on loose tarmac from around the back. She made her way around there, guessing it must be Kennedy (or a member of staff that would tell her off for being in a restricted area). Rounding the corner she smelled hot grease and heard an industrial extractor fan, saw a heavy black-painted door that lead back inside the pub with a 'Staff only' sign nailed onto it. She figured that to be the exit to the kitchens. Across the near empty car park (standing as far away as possible from the two big dumpsters pushed against the high wooden fence separating the pub grounds from the alley beside it) was the dark haired slayer, doing, of all things, what appeared to be an angry version of Tai Chi. The idiot. If she hadn't tried to wind up Tara by getting hands on with Willow then she wouldn't need to flounce off and calm down.<p>

Cat made her presence known by striding across the tarmac, loose gravel grinding under her boots. She saw Kennedy's head twist slightly, angling an ear in Cat's direction, as she snapped her arms up into a ward-off position, moving instantly into the next pose by stomping one foot down.

Cat halted a few paces behind her.

"You're doing it wrong." She said when Kennedy made no other move to acknowledge her presence.

"I'm doing it right." Kennedy shot back stiffly. Cat watched the slayer move through the form in short jerky movements. She could feel the agitation radiating from Kennedy in waves.

"No. You should flow like water. You look more like you've stuck your finger in a socket."

Kennedy said nothing. Cat sensed she was being ignored.

"So." She said after a moment of silence. "Willow doesn't like being made an exhibition of." One foot slammed down a little harder than before. Still, cold silence. "You're being pretty inconsiderate acting that way around Tara." Poor sweet Tara, who was just as lost as, if not more than, everyone else.

The punch could have given Kennedy whiplash. But still, silence.

"Willow and Tara have a lot of history. It's really killing them, all this awkwardness." Cat said. Finally the slayer stepped out of her defensive stance to turn and face her.

"Where are you going with this, Cat?" She asked, sensing purpose in her words. There was an edge to her voice that made the smaller woman look away uncomfortably down at the floor. Her next statement would most definitely not be received well.

"I'm thinking maybe…" Cat hesitated, dragging her icy blues up to Kennedy's dark (and suspicious) eyes. "Maybe you should step aside for them. Y'know?" Harsh, yes, but perhaps the right thing to do. And perhaps inevitable. It was easy to see Willow was torn, struggling with having Tara back (a wish granted at the wrong time) and being with Kennedy. Worried she was hurting Tara, hurting Kennedy, in the wrong place. It was enough to make anyone lose their mind.

"Step aside?" Kennedy repeated coldly. She took a threatening step towards Cat, but Cat stood her ground, now staring levelly into dark eyes that blazed furiously.

"I think it's the right thing to do." She replied confidently, trying to make herself appear taller as Kennedy now stood almost toe-to-toe and towered above her.

"The right thing to do?!"

"Stop repeating me." Cat snapped. "What are you? A broken record?" Kennedy raised her hand to point a threatening finger in the reaper's face.

"I'll tell you who I am. I am Willow's girlfriend and not you nor that Tara will change that fact."

Cat bristled.

"_That_ Tara?" She snarled. Kennedy ignored her.

"Willow is _mine_."

"Willow doesn't _belong_ to anyone." Slayer and reaper stood mere inches apart glaring furiously into each other's eyes. "Except-"

"Don't you dare." Kennedy growled. Cat cocked her head, grey eyes almost innocent. Almost. She flashed a smirk. She wanted to lash out.

"Tara." The name had barely left her lips when Kennedy's fist came flying. Cat twisted her shoulders in the blink of an eye, the fist sailing past harmlessly, and slammed both palms into Kennedy's chest to shove her back, forcing a gap between them. She instantly dropped into a fighting stance, pivoted on one foot and round-housed the slayer. Kennedy raised one arm, blocking the kick with her forearm and shoving Cat's leg aside, overbalancing the reaper. Cat barely had time to recover her footing before she was forced to block and counter a rain of angry punches. She managed to duck beneath a wild swing and side-swipe Kennedy's feet from beneath her but before she could launch a proper assault the slayer was back up and had rammed a shoulder into Cat's gut, driving her backwards into the wall. Cat brought down an elbow between her shoulders and the slayer released her and stumbled, the breath knocked from her chest. She received a knee to the face and was knocked back several paces. Cat seized the moment, driving her backwards now with blow after blow but despite the reaper's speed, Kennedy managed to turn them aside until finally she drove a fist into Cat's face with such force that the reaper was thrown from her feet. Cat landed on her back with a thud and an 'oof!' as the air left her lungs. Kennedy stood over her ready to strike, breathing hard. Cat tasted blood as it ran from her nose in a thin trickle, felt the bruise rising. They watched each other closely for a moment, then Kennedy finally relaxed and leaned down to offer Cat a hand up.

"Same time tomorrow?" Cat teased, wincing as she was hauled to her feet. Kennedy smirked at her, rolling her shoulders to ease the ache from her own collision with the ground.

"Sure, sure. I'd love to hand you your ass again." She replied. Cat shot her a playful grin, wiping the small line of blood from her nose onto the back of one hand. The fight had diffused the situation, settled differences. A mutual understanding established between them.

"I let you win." She lied. They whirled around as the door behind them burst open and out charged Willow, Tara, and Dawn. Their fight had brought them across the car park and back down to the side entrance of the pub.

"What are you doing?!" Willow cried, aghast. Slayer and reaper looked each other up and down, taking in their rumpled and dirty clothes, wild hair (no change for Cat…), the cuts and bruises.

"Talking." Kennedy said quickly, eyes flicking back to Willow. Cat nodded vigorously in agreement, trying to discretely scrub the blood from her hand onto her dark jeans.

"Yup, just talking." She agreed. Tara stared at the reaper, clearly distressed.

"Talking? Y-you were fighting!" She protested. Kennedy shook her head.

"Nope, just talking."

"Look at you!" Willow replied, gesturing wildly. Again the reaper and the slayer exchanged glances.

"We ran into each other." Kennedy eventually said, dark eyes innocent as she looked back to her girlfriend.

"Repeatedly?!" Willow snapped.

"Maybe…" She replied cagily. Cat snorted at the stupidity of the excuse, then winced and moaned as the pressure caused her bruised and previously bloody nose to ache. She reached up a hand to tentatively rub the pain away. Kennedy sniggered at that.

"You freaked out Dawnie." Tara frowned at them, winding an arm almost protectively around the teen's shoulders.

"I thought you were trying to kill each other." Dawn helpfully explained. Cat finally looked somewhat sheepish, grey eyes flicking to her.

"I'm sorry, Dawn, we really were talking…" She said awkwardly. The teen smiled and shrugged, apparently happy now they weren't trying to smash each other's faces off of the building or something else equally as violent.

"With your fists?!" Willow demanded. Slayer and reaper now shifted uncomfortably.

"A bit…" Kennedy admitted.

"What about?" Tara asked curiously as she sensed the truth in their words. The talking had obviously lead to the fighting.

"Nothing!" Answered in unison. The culprits stood looking tense. Tara sighed, not wishing to push the matter.

"O-okay, just…I think you should go and get cleaned up." She said. "We'll be going to the magic shop soon."

"On it." Cat said and dashed off inside.

"I think I'm gunna stay here." Kennedy said, rubbing the back of her neck. She wasn't interested in this magic shop, and besides, Cat was right. She hadn't been especially welcoming towards Tara. She raised her eyes to meet Willow's. She hadn't been that great with Willow either. "Help research."

"You'll be by yourself." Dawn informed her cheerfully. "Everyone's going to see the _Magic Box_."

"Oh, well, actually it's called _Odin's Emporium_." Willow told Dawn. "The owner's called Brian. It's got nothing to do with Odin. Just one of his many godly aspects was magic amongst a whole buncha stuff." Dawn looked sideways at her, giving her the 'that was unnecessary information' look.

"Brian?" Tara asked with a playful smile. "So you're on first name terms, huh?" She crossed her arms over her chest. Willow immediately looked flustered.

"What? He was shocked I actually knew what I was talking about!" She insisted. "He normally just gets kids coming in looking for magic wands and love potions."

Kennedy inched away and left them to it. The way Willow reacted when teased by Tara bothered her. She became nervous and shy, as though being taunted by a crush.

She headed back inside and crossed the bar to return to her chair at the table. Just Buffy and Giles remained seated and both eyed her warily, noting the troubled expression on her face.

"Everything okay?" Buffy asked.

"Finey McFine." Kennedy replied gloomily, flipping open a book.

* * *

><p>Xander was heading down the corridor that lead off from one side of the bar towards the bathrooms when Cat stepped through the door marked with the universal symbol for the women's bathroom and they almost collided.<p>

"Whoops, sorry." She sidestepped him as he put out a hand to steady her.

"No problem." He said, peering into her face. He knew she and Kennedy had had some sort of scrap from Dawn's freak out, though he didn't know why.

The ends of her hair were damp from where she had obviously washed her face, and a pale blue bruise marked the bridge of her nose.

"That looks nasty."

"You should see the other guy!" Cat grinned up at him. Xander leaned his shoulders back against the wall and smiled at the joke.

"So… You brought back Tara, huh?" He asked. Cat looked surprised at the change in conversation and nodded, hooking her thumbs into her belt loops and moving back against the opposite wall.

"Yessir, I did." She said, wondering where this was going.

"And she came back, without any consequences?" He added, thinking back to the trauma they went through after bringing Buffy back.

"Far as I can see." She said. "I've never known of consequences before."

Xander nodded. They already knew Cat used a different kind of magic to the sort they were used to. So that made sense.

"Can you bring anyone back?"

"In theory." Cat said. Xander looked confused. "I can only bring back a person The Powers want me to bring back. I can't pick and choose, can't make the decision myself. There are some spells that can bring back the dead, as you know. Dangerous and difficult spells. But personally? I can only bring back a soul The Powers say I can bring back."

"Oh, right." Xander forced a smile and looked down. "I guess that makes sense."

"But I would if I could." She said quickly. He wasn't asking out of curiosity, she realized. Xander looked up at her. "Bring her back." She added. He offered a faint but grateful smile.

"There you are!" They both turned towards the voice to see Willow approaching them from the bar. "We're going now. And you can come so long as you promise not to start any fights."

"Scout's honour." Cat held up three fingers in salute. Willow paused.

"You were in the scouts?" She asked. Cat shrugged.

"I could have been."

"Okay, well, come on, then!" Willow said, and rushed excitedly back into the bar.

* * *

><p>Having opted to stay behind, Buffy, Xander, and Kennedy had gathered the research materials and moved them onto a smaller table as the rest of the group prepared to leave for the magic shop (either out of curiosity, or because they wanted to see if they could stock up on magical items and ingredients). Tara hovered nearby, eyeing the open books and sheets of paper already spread across the worn wooden table top. As she did, something pinged in the back of her mind. She hesitated, glanced across the bar as Willow, Giles, Dawn, and Cat began to leave, looked back to the table. Something had caught her attention. But what? And why?<p>

She cast her eyes across the scattered information again, willing the subconscious blip to reappear, to take form and tell her what it wanted her to notice. No such luck. She saw books on different dimensions, various spells, known Hellmouths, print outs of information on town history, timelines, charts and maps from various centuries, tourist hotspots, important areas, church ruins, a buried forum, a roman temple, battle grounds, an ancient gatehouse, town wall, all sorts of information, and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew there was something important hidden there. But what?

"Tara?" Willow called her name. Tara turned and met her gaze across the bar. Willow stood at the door, holding it open. "Are you coming?"

Tara glanced back at the table. There was time enough to figure it out. She looked back at Willow and smiled, walking across the bar towards her.

"Sure." She said, and together they headed outside.


	16. Chapter 15

_Odin's Emporium_ was a relatively small shop down a side street away from the main shopping centre of the town. There were a few other shops lining the street-a Chinese herbalists, a shop selling different teas and coffees, a stationers-but nothing quite like this one. _Odin's_ was wooden fronted with a big glass window offering views inside of wooden book cases, and shelves and tables covered in herbs for sale, artefacts, charms, and various other ingredients and objects. The wooden shop front was painted crimson, the shop's name painted in yellow across the top above the window with a Norse knot pattern bordering it and an ouroboros at the end. The double glass panels in the door were covered with posters and leaflets advertising various magic groups or meditation classes or psychics giving talks. Just visible amongst all the coloured sheets of paper was a little sign turned to say 'open'.

"Shall we go in, then?" Willow asked excitedly, watching the group survey the exterior. Giles eagerly lead the way, pushing open the door and looking up as a bell jingled overhead. He moved aside, holding the door open for Dawn, Willow, Tara, and Cat to enter. Once they were all inside he shut the door behind them and turned, inhaling the delightfully familiar musky scent of incense and old books, of herbs and oils. Of a magic shop.

"Afternoon ladies, sir." Said the man behind the counter, tipping his head at them. He was in his early sixties, iron hair shot through with bright silver pulled back into a short pony tail, a close cropped beard darkening his jaw. His eyes were bright blue and he gave the group an easy smile that widened when he recognized Willow. "Back so soon?" He asked almost playfully. Willow smiled and gave him a cheery wave.

"Yup. Brought my friends." She needlessly informed him. Cat had wandered off to one side to inspect a floor to ceiling shelf of herbs and powders. Giles was already investigating the book shelves. Tara was stood nearby eyeing up the display of crystals in the middle of the floor.

There was a soft clunk as the crystal ball Dawn had curiously touched rolled off its stand and onto the table. She hastily caught it and put it back, hurrying away to stand with Giles before she could be told off.

Cat approached the counter with an armful of things and dumped it all in front of Brian, the shop owner, placing a hand over the black candles to stop them rolling away as she carefully placed several glass vials of powder next to them. He eyed the candles, herbs and salt suspiciously while entering the glass vials into his till and bagging them.

"Performing a séance?" He asked casually.

"Uh…Maybe…" Cat answered him vaguely, not sure how he would react if she told him that was exactly what she hoped to do.

"Well, be careful." He told her. "Things are a bit strange round here lately." That grabbed everyone's attention.

"Oh…?" Willow asked, moving closer to the counter.

"Mmm." Brian said, placing sage into a plastic baggy before adding it to the brown paper bag he was putting Cat's items into. "I keep hearing about weird things. Shadows."

"Really?" Tara asked, looking from Cat to the Englishman behind the counter. "What kind of shadows?" Brian paused in bagging the candles.

"Demons." He whispered seriously. "If you believe such talk."

"Perhaps you could help us with something?" Giles said, approaching the counter with an open book in hand. "We're actually looking for a specific area. A site of mystical convergence, if you will. Do you know of any such place here?"

Brian looked down as Cat handed over the money for her goods, paused to count it out.

"I know your sort." He said after a moment of consideration. The group looked at each other, wondering what 'sort' they were. "Used to always be out for adventure, just like you kids." Giles frowned at being included in the group of 'kids' but said nothing. "Up to no good. But then I buggered up my knee, didn't I? Escaping a Stygian pygmy demon I accidentally summoned. No more adventure for me. Now this shop is all the excitement I see. But I hear tell of some kind of…_power_ outside of town." He hit a couple of buttons on the till and the drawer rolled open, receipt printing from the little machine beside it. "Something's coming. The adventure isn't worth it." He handed over Cat's change, tore off the receipt and put it into her bag. "But I doubt that matters to you." He gave a wry smile.

"Thanks…" Cat muttered, taking her paper bag and moving away from him.

"Was there anything else I could help you with?"

"Actually, yes," Giles said. "Do you ship to the US?"

* * *

><p>Buffy, Kennedy, and Xander were having a noughts and crosses championship on the back of one of Cat's printouts down in the bar when the main door opened and in came Giles, Willow, Tara, Dawn and Cat. There was a mad scramble to turn over the paper, grab research material, and adopt the appropriate bored expression. The sudden flurry of activity earned them a suspicious look from Giles.<p>

"Did you find anything useful?" He asked, eyeing the coffee cups and beer bottles surrounding them.

"No…" They all answered gravely.

"We did!" Dawn said, bounding over and dropping into the chair beside Buffy. "The Hellmouth might be outside the city. The shop guy-Brian…?-he told us."

"Really…?" Buffy asked, looking a little sceptical.

"What did he say?" Kennedy asked, gladly shoving aside the book she had picked up.

"He mentioned there being some kind of power outside the town." Willow said.

"What's that?" Xander asked, raising himself slightly to look inside the bag Cat dumped on the table.

"I'm gunna try out that séance." She said, withdrawing the glass vials she had bought and pocketing them. "To see if we can get some less vague directions. I'll need to wait for sundown. And it has to be in a cemetery…"

"Wow, cliché much?" Buffy teased her.

"I know." Cat sighed. "Don't ask me why. Probably something to do with being surrounded by the dead."

"Like vampires!" Xander said brightly.

"Well, they're not much of a problem right now." Kennedy said.

"It's the spirits that might be." Cat said. Xander lifted a bundle of dried sage from the bag, sniffed it, and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Cat took the bundle back and dropped it into the bag.

"So, you'll be needing our two brave slayers, then?" Xander asked.

"And maybe our two strong witches."

Willow and Tara looked at Cat. They had both been so good since the 'almost kiss' incident earlier that day. Hands went in pockets if they felt liable to wander. But if the reaper required they cast together that would certainly make things difficult.

Cat took their apprehension to be over the potential danger she was suggesting.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

* * *

><p>Sundown couldn't come fast enough for Cat. She wanted this séance over and done with as soon as possible. The idea of demanding an audience with a spirit made her uncomfortable, like she was abusing her power, abusing the spirits that simply needed her help. But they desperately needed information and here was a way to get it.<p>

So that was how two slayers, two witches and a reaper came to be standing in front of the bolted and padlocked gates of the out of town cemetery.

"You guys be careful going over." Cat told Willow and Tara, eyeing the metal spikes along the top of the iron fence.

Kennedy vaulted up and over and clung onto the top, reaching down for Willow, who was boosted up by Buffy. Willow climbed carefully over the top and was lowered to the ground by Kennedy. Tara followed. Kennedy dropped down onto the grass beside them, then Buffy leaped the fence. Cat adjusted the bag on her back she had brought along to carry her séance goodies, then scrambled up and over the fence, dropping down the opposite side.

"Where to?" Kennedy asked her.

"Somewhere out of sight." Cat replied, starting off along the gravel pathway. "Towards the back."

Headstones stood in neat rows either side of the pathway, interrupted only by the odd statue or mausoleum acquired by richer families. Most were well kept and cared for. There were no lights here and so the further they moved from the road the darker it became. They had almost crossed the entirety of the cemetery when Cat finally decided they had come far enough and dropped her bag behind a weathered sarcophagus.

She brought out her salt and started to pour it in a wide circle on the grass.

"What do you want us to do?" Buffy asked, watching as the reaper set up.

"Prep for chaos." Cat answered, lighting her three candles and placing them around the circle. "If this doesn't go well then we could either be dealing with a pissed off spirit, or it could attract Rigel, or both."

"Fun." Kennedy commented, reaching behind herself to lift her jacket and pull a cold iron hand axe out from where she had tucked the ash handle through her belt.

"Concealing weapons is definitely not of the comfort." Buffy said, pulling a long bladed knife, also cold iron and doused in holy water, from her coat sleeve and inspecting her wrist.

"Tch, if you think that's hard you should try hiding crystal balls!" Willow told them. Kennedy and Buffy shot her strange looks.

"Ready!" Cat called. She was sat in the middle of her salt circle with the candles lit and a bowl in front of her that appeared to be smoking. Closer inspection revealed the smoke was rising from her bundle of sage, sitting in the bottom of the bowl along with some burning incense cones, all of which was lightly smouldering.

"A stinky ritual." Buffy said, wrinkling her nose.

"Ghosts respond well to smell." Cat said, then held one finger to her lips and motioned for the group to step back, which they did so, with Buffy and Kennedy stood either side of Willow and Tara. The reaper cleared her throat and closed her eyes and began murmuring beneath her breath. It looked more like meditation than spirit summoning.

She stopped speaking after a moment and cracked one eye open, glancing around them, then the other. She looked up at the others and shrugged her shoulders in a 'what can you do?' motion.

"Huh, did it wo-" Buffy cut off as the candles around Cat flared bright and the startled reaper froze, eyes wide. A sudden wind swept everything towards her and she leaped to her feet as embers from the incense and burning herb was blasted at her, hurriedly patting down her clothes before it could burn her. The wind died down almost instantly, and silence reined.

"Was that it?" Kennedy asked, poised for action.

"Um… Maybe?" Cat said uncertainly.

In answer a sudden invisible force threw the group from their feet. Cat was bowled straight over the side of the sarcophagus and Kennedy struck her head against a headstone. Willow destroyed a flower arrangement and hastily rolled off and tried to fix it.

A blinding white figure burst into existence amongst the group and instantly screamed at the top of her lungs. Cat's head popped up on the other side of the sarcophagus looking alarmed. More so when the spirit made a beeline for her.

"What have you done?!" She shrieked.

"What?!" Cat cried. The light died down to reveal a pearlescent twenty-something woman in distress. She wore the ghostly imitation of a long skirt and neat blouse, hair pulled back in a tight bun, giving her the appearance of a head teacher, though more likely, those were the clothes she had been buried in.

"He'll find me!" The spirit reached out to grab the reaper, face contorted with cold fury and fear.

"Stand down!" Cat ordered and the spirit froze in place and immediately began to wail.

Kennedy sat up and shook her head to clear it, grabbed her axe and leaped to her feet. She started forwards but Cat held out a hand and shook her head no.

"Who will find you?" Cat asked, having to raise her voice to be heard above the wailing.

"Him!"

"What?!" Cat looked around herself but no one else was in the cemetery with them.

"The monster!"

Rigel, Cat suspected. This spirit knew he posed a threat to her. The spirit huddled down on the ground and hugged her knees to her chest, unable to leave due to the reaper's call. Cat was at a loss. It was unlikely they would get anything useful out of her. She summoned her sword and the spirit screeched at her.

"Calm down!" Cat said, gritting her teeth as her ears starting to ring from all of the noise. "I'm sending you on. He can't get you there." She hoped.

The spirit gave her a mournful look as Cat drew her sword. Cat moved around behind her and the soul bowed her head. The blade silently lifted and swung downwards, slashing through the ghost with a flare of light and a pulse of energy. And then the night was still once more.

"Well, that was productive." Kennedy said sarcastically.

"I told you I was no good at this stuff!" Cat cried agitatedly.

"Yeah, I think that was an understatement." Kennedy teased. Cat glared at her.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Kennedy shot back.

"Don't you two start." Buffy warned, on her feet and dusting herself off. Kennedy rolled her eyes and turned to help Willow up, but both witches were already standing, Willow tenderly pulling grass out of Tara's hair. The dark haired slayer rolled her eyes and stalked off across the cemetery.

Cat bent down to gather her candles and things and put them back in her bag. She kicked the salt circle to disperse it and straightened, adjusted the strap across her chest and smiled wryly at the rest of the group.

"All done." She said. "Sorry that was so useless."

"We'll think of something." Buffy said, leading them back across the cemetery.

Cat and Tara left once they had safely exited the cemetery, rather than trek back into town only for them to leave again.

* * *

><p>The bar was closed when Willow, Kennedy, and Buffy returned, but when they climbed the stairs to go back to their rooms, Giles' door opened and he poked his head out into the corridor. Buffy made her way over to update him on the situation while Willow and Kennedy went into their room to get ready for bed.<p>

"So that spirit was pretty cranky, huh?" Willow said, getting changed into her pyjamas. Kennedy just stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed. She hadn't spoken much on the walk back, and Willow sensed a dark mood building.

"She was scared." Kennedy said, rubbing the back of her head where it had struck the headstone. A lump had risen but it wasn't bleeding. "And useless."

"Because she was scared." Willow said, getting into bed. "Aren't you getting changed?" She motioned to Kennedy's jeans and T-shirt, muddied by the cemetery ground. Kennedy looked down at herself.

"Maybe." She replied.

Willow frowned at this strange answer.

"Is something wrong…?" She asked warily.

"Do you want her back?" Kennedy demanded sharply, looking up at her with angry eyes. Willow was taken aback by the sudden attack.

"What? Who?!"

"You know who." Kennedy glowered at her. That was true.

"Wha-I-how-huh?!" Willow floundered, the head spinning change of subject, and the somewhat volatile material forcing a block in communications between brain and mouth.

"Well?" Kennedy said. "It's a simple question!" Willow looked away, feeling tears blur her vision. It was a simple question without a simple answer.

"I…I don't know." She said thickly. Yes. Yes, she did. Kennedy grit her teeth, sensing the answer. She had expected as much but it didn't make her feel any better for it. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. Something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately, but it was easier to be by herself rather than lash out.

She made her way downstairs and out of the pub via the side entrance, into the car park. She angrily kicked at a crumpled beer can and it bumped and rolled its way across the tarmac, skittering to a halt against the wall across from her.

"Something wrong?"

Kennedy jumped at the voice. She had been so sure she was alone, yet here was a man, lounging against the wall beside her. He was tall, his accent American, skin fair, hair silvery blond and swept back from his face. His smile was kind enough, but his blue eyes felt cold. She immediately decided she didn't like him.

"I'm fine." She turned to head back inside.

"It's your girlfriend, isn't it?"

"What?" Kennedy turned back to him, eyes narrowed dangerously. The man pushed off from the wall and held up his hands defensively.

"Just a casual observation."

"I haven't seen you around."

"No?" He smiled. "I've been here the whole time." He looked sympathetic. "You're losing her to that other woman. And your friends aren't very helpful are they?"

"Excuse me?" Kennedy asked angrily. She _really_ didn't like this man. She took a threatening step towards him, fists clenched at her sides. He seemed unperturbed.

"Can't they see how much you're hurting?"

"Who are you?" Kennedy demanded.

"Just someone."

"Aha. Someone asking for their ass to get kicked."

He held up his hands again.

"I meant no disrespect." He said. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, fighting a smile. "Did I hit a nerve? I'm sorry."

"Whatever." Kennedy spat, and turned on her heel, heading back inside. There was no point getting locked up for knocking seven bells out of a stranger.

"Be seeing you." The man said.

Kennedy didn't answer.

The door slammed shut and she stomped back upstairs, to Willow.


End file.
